


Keeping Him Close

by Koibitotedare



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: M/M, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-15
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2017-11-21 05:28:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/593969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koibitotedare/pseuds/Koibitotedare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you cannot keep your lover as close to you as possible then you must become his enemy to protect them. After Izaya is attacked Shizuo will no longer take them being apart and steps in to care for his lover. However the persistant Ex-Yakuza member Shirozake isn't going to just let the informant live. Will Shizuo be able to protect the one he loves or will he lose everything?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Into the Open

Keeping Him Close

Chapter 1

Into the Open

**Important Information: Kida doesn't know that Mikado is the leader of Dollars and vise versa.**

_If you can't constantly keep your lover by your side then become their enemy._

Grinning, Izaya pulled on his trademark jacket, slipped on his shoes, and left his apartment while grabbing his keys. Still beaming, as he used the elevator to get to the bottom, he placed his hands inside his jacket pockets. Upon stepping into the lobby he could see large, fluffy, white flakes of snow falling idly from the sky. Despite hating the cold that the snow brought with it, Izaya was happy to be out in the weather. He had a meeting as Nakura-san tonight. He was going with the typical kidnap and rescue routine that had won him so many wonderful reactions. The responses this girl would give him would be entertaining at the least, and he couldn't wait to see them. He couldn't wait for the look of confusion to cross her face only to be followed by the sweet look of betrayal. He skipped to his location then sat at the rooftop waiting for his package to be delivered.

The rumble of the motorcycle was never heard but the sound of a horse caught Izaya's attention. He moved to a higher spot on the building to stay out of sight for the first meeting. He nearly slipped on some ice that had formed but regained his footing and rubbed his hands together trying to warm them. He frowned as the motorcycle's neighing passed without stopping at the building. Izaya pulled out his phone and sent a text to Celty.  _[Where's my package?]_  He asked. The answer was swift and harsh for the dullahan,  _[I'm in no mood for your games. She's at home.]_  Grinding his teeth together Izaya smashed the buttons on his cell phone and sent the message.  _[That wasn't your job and now you've ruined my evening.]_

_[And you've ruined mine.]_

Izaya growled and jumped down from his spot, how was he supposed to get his daily dose of his beloved humans if his messenger decided to bail on him? He snarled as he nearly fell in the snow and he turned on his heel freezing in his spot, when he saw the two built men standing behind him. They were ex-Yakuza members that looked as if they were out for blood.

"What can I do for you gentlemen today?" Izaya asked with his trademark smirk and pulling his posture up to be something that was more appropriate. A look was shared between them and both pulled out guns. Izaya retaliated by pulling out his knife, he was, however, a fraction of a second late. The ex-members both shot unwilling to wait for words to be spoken. Izaya was fast, he couldn't fight on par with Shizuo if he wasn't, but even he couldn't dodge a bullet from five feet away, let alone two of them. He felt the cold, snowy, rooftop before he felt the pain in his stomach and right shoulder.

"You're a very hard man to track down." The first said as they both holstered their guns that were kept noiseless by the large silencing barrels screwed onto the ends.

"If you would  _really_  like to do something for us you can lay there like a good boy and die." The other said and roughly patted his cold cheek, and just as quickly as they had come they were gone. Izaya attempted to move his right arm, but winced, letting out a silent scream as the whole arm pulsated in agony. He grit his teeth and fought the fuzzy, black haze that was already working its way into his vision, and while using his left arm only, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket with numb fingers. He barely made out the characters of Celty's name before he clicked, loosing most of his watery vision. By the time he found his first letter on his keyboard, his vision was fading and it seemed as if the building was spinning from underneath him. He tried to text, I need you to come get me, but he was unsure of the buttons he was pressing. He was also barely aware that he had even pressed the send button on the phone as his left arm fell to the frozen rooftop. He looked up to see the grey sky and blinked as a snowflake landed in the center of his eyes bringing a sharp pain as it melted. He blinked again and the water flowed out of his eye and ran down his cheek. His fingers twitched in an effort to wipe it away, but he merely felt the sticky pool of cooling blood from beneath him. His phone buzzed a moment later. Pressing the open button seemed to be too much effort and he settled for looking at his phone, where the screen was lit up saying he had a new message. His nose felt strange and numb on his face, the water that was on his eyelashes was already freezing into ice crystals. Another twitch of the fingers told him that the blood farthest from him was already freezing to the ground, collecting the snowflakes and preserving their shape as it did. A callous wind blew and he shivered once, cursing the snow and the cold air it brought with it as his vision tunneled. The world vaulted forward taking Izaya's stomach with him, with a surprising amount of strength he turned on his side, and vomited. The world began somersaulting and Izaya closed his eyes to get away from the nauseous sensation unaware that as his consciousness was rapidly diminishing and the cold didn't seem to matter as much anymore.

_UragirinoyuuyakeUragirinoyuu yakeUragirinoyuuyakeUragirin oyuuyakeDRRR_

Shizuo sighed for what seemed to be the 80th time that night. He'd been pissed with a certain flea when he flung a car down the street. He was reaching for the stop sign next to him when a slight tingle in his arm made him realized that he had just thrown his shoulder out and dislocated it. He knew that he should go to Shinra, because  _he_  sure as hell didn't know how to put a shoulder back into place, however ruining his friend's first official date night with Celty seemed like a bad idea. However, if he didn't go then he couldn't do his job and he could be facing termination at that point, and he just  _couldn't_  do that to Kasuka again. With his 81st sigh, Shizuo left for Shinra's.

Trying to dull his feelings of guilt, Shizuo lightly knocked on the door to the apartment. To his surprise Celty answered almost immediately. She seemed nervous as she typed on her phone while shifting her weight back and forth. She erased the message several times, making Shizuo believe she was angry, before finally showing it to him; he blinked at the words on the screen.  _[If you're here to hurt him you'll have to leave and come back when he's better.]_  Shizuo blinked slightly confused then gestured to his arm.

"I'm really not sure what you're talking about, I threw a car today and I just need-" He was interrupted as the phone was thrust into his face. He pushed her hand back so he could make out the letters.  _[You threw a_ car _?! Why can't you men just_ takecare _of yourselves?]_  She grabbed him by his good arm and hauled him over to the long couch in the living room with surprising strength. She pointed a stern finger at him giving him a silent warning that told him to stay put "or else." Shizuo nodded as she walked off into a side room. He sat rubbing his injured arm and wondering what she meant when she said that he would have to wait to hurt someone. Did that mean that someone was in this building that he wanted to hurt? Did that mean Izaya was here? The nervous churning in his stomach that was normally associated with Izaya's name started up at the thought of him. Shinra's voice was curious when he spoke from the other room, loud enough that Shizuo could hear everything he was saying.

"He only threw a car? Well that's fine then I'll look at it, will you stay with this guy for me?" Shinra's voice flowed smoothly into the room Shizuo was currently occupying. Shizuo noticed Celty moving to the bed while Shinra came out smiling and wiping his slightly bloody hands on a sanitizing rag.

"Sorry to ruin your date night." Shizuo apologized as Shinra bent to look at his arm.

"It was ruined long before you got here." Shinra answered while gently probing the area, "There were a lot of unusual attacks in the underground today. My whole day was ruined at eight this morning." Shinra answered with a shrug.

"I see."

"This might sting a bit." Shinra warned then popped the blondes arm back into place.

"Thanks." Shizuo grumbled as he rotated the arm. They heard a loud bang followed by furious typing and a whiny voice.

"Ahhh not again!" Shinra groaned as Izaya slowly made his way out of the room with his knife brandished at Celty.

"Izaya-kun! You really need to rest!" Shinra cautioned as Izaya took another step out of the room. He was clutching at his stomach with his right hand and the left held the knife. He was slightly bent over but the look in his eye said that he would cut Celty if she tried anything to stop him, even if he was panting and using the wall as a support. Shizuo sighed and stood, dusting his pants off as he did.

"Ahh Shizuo-Kun please don't! He's already hurt!" Shinra pleaded as the white bandages around Izaya's middle slowly turned red again.

"You stupid Flea." Shizuo said his voice surprisingly soft, "Go to bed and  _sleep_." Shizuo grabbed Izaya's left wrist lightly and gently squeezed it sending the knife clattering to the floor. Shizuo wrapped his arm around Izaya's shoulders then bent and wrapped the other underneath the Louses knees and gently picked him up. To both Celty and Shinra's shock, Izaya merely curled into Shizuo wedging his face into the space between the blonde's arm and chest.

"Shi-Shizu-Chan." Izaya's voice was far too soft for Shizuo's liking, so he shushed the brunette.

"Shut up and sleep, doctors orders." Shizuo said as he placed the 23 year old in bed as if he were a toddler again, and brought the covers to his chin.

"I have to go to work Shizu-Chan." Izaya groaned.

"Bull, go to bed." Shizuo commanded as he placed a hand on the sick mans shoulder keeping him in bed.

"What exactly was  _that_?" Shinra questioned and instantly a blush formed over Shizuo's cheeks as he remembered where he was.

"Aww is Shizu-Chan embarrassed?" Izaya teased.

"Can it, Louse." Shizuo grumbled.

"I've never seen you be civil to him before, what gives?" Shinra asked while giving Shizuo a once over. Millions of excuses whirled through Shizuo's mind but none of them very good.

"Er…opposite day?" He offered earning a glare and crossed arms from Shinra.

"I think these two, of all people, deserve to know Shizu-Chan." Izaya's voice popped into the air again. Shizuo stared into the ruby eyes until they reached a silent agreement.

"We can't do this anymore Izaya." Shizuo said earning a worried look from Izaya, "I don't care if you want it or not but we're doing this my way from now on." The worried look left only to be placed with an annoyed one, but before Izaya could retaliate Shinra spoke up again.

"And what does  _that_  mean?" Shizuo sighed and sat on the bed next to Izaya.

"Truthfully, we've never hated each other as much as we've portrayed." Shizuo started.

"You stated that you hated him from the moment you set eyes on him, I was  _there_." Shinra stated with a disbelieving look in his eyes.

"I guess we were believable! Ne Shizu-Chan~" Izaya chirped.

"I thought I told you to shut up and sleep." Shizuo sighed, "Are you going to make me read you a bedtime story?" Izaya wrapped his arms around Shizuo's waist and nudged his face into the blondes legs, earning a light sigh from the man.

"No." Came the muffled reply.

"So damn clingy." Shizuo grumbled but slid and arm around Izaya's shoulders.  _[How long?]_  Shizuo stared at the screen in front of him wondering what he should reveal and leave secret.

"Middle school." Izaya answered swiftly as he read the screen one eye poking out from his dark hair. The Dullahan took her phone back and erased the message prepared to type again.  
"Then why is- Why would- Why are you hiding it then?" Shinra asked while scratching his head trying to figure out the puzzle.

"Have you ever heard of the saying keep your friends close, your enemy's closer, and your lover the closest?" Shizuo asked.

"Yes."

"And have you heard that if you can't keep your lover close enough then you must keep them as far away as possible to avoid them being targeted by your enemy?" Shizuo asked. The pieces began to fall into a pattern in front of Shinra's eyes.

_[But in middle school? Did either of you really have enemies that powerful?]_  Celty asked.

"Izaya started making enemies as fast he could." Shizuo mumbled while giving the brunettes shoulder a firm squeeze, "Middle school was fine, it was when we got into high school where things got sticky."

"I keep telling you I wouldn't be where I am now if I didn't start getting information then. I had rivals in middle school; they just weren't as bad as the ones at Raira." Izaya answered fighting off a yawn as he situated his head on Shizuo's lap.

"When you claimed that you hated him?" Shinra asked.

"Yes."

"So let me get this straight….in order to protect each other you pretended that you hated each other so they wouldn't use one of you in a hostage situation that would endanger the other?"

"That's about it…" Shizuo answered.

_[What did you mean when you said you were going with your plan Shizuo?]_

"Ahh, Izaya's plan was to keep us as far away as possible and mine was to keep us close…Now that he's been shot,  _twice_ , I refuse to go along with this any further. I'm keeping him as close as I can…I'll find the people that did this and I'll kill them." Shizuo spat.

_[Will you need help with anything?]_  Celty asked as she ignored the fact that Izaya was rubbing his nose on Shizuo's leg just to annoy the other.

"Well since we're going along with my plan now-"

"I don't think that's the best choice Shizu-chan…I have a lot of powerful enemies…" Izaya stated unable to fight off his yawn and a wince of pain, which sent Shinra into doctor mode.

"Visitation hours are over! I need to change his bandages and he needs rest." Shinra claimed while grabbing bandages from across the room. He kicked both Shizuo and Celty out of the room while he changed the bandages, much to both Shizuo and Izaya's annoyance.

_[Do you love him?]_  Celty asked as they stepped into the living room. The blush crossed Shizuo's face again.

"Of course, I've been with him since middle school…." Shizuo answered somewhat embarrassed.

_[Have you told him?]_

"He knows it."

_[You should tell him anyway, if you don't you might find out that he's really been looking for you to say it.]_

"What do you mean?"

_[He comes off as a strong and confident person, I'm sure you know this, but he's unsure about a lot of things. Not that his pride will let him admit that.]_

"Yes, we've discussed  _that_  before…I'm still not sure I get what you mean."

_[You might find him gone one day because you never really showed your feelings to him.]_  Celty wrote. Shizuo shifted uncomfortably then changed the subject unable to justify that with an answer.

"So you're not angry?"

_[Of course not! I understand why you did what you did, but I think Shinra will be a little sore that you kept this from him…you guys were his only friends in high school.]_

"He still had you, he always had you."

_[But it's not the same. I'm a woman…He never really had anyone else to be a boy with…or to trust even. He's going to be upset that you kept it from him no matter your reasons. It's different that way, he needed friends to rely on and you were it.]_

"Yeah, I know…" Shizuo sighed while running his hand down his face, "I'll invite him for drinks or sushi sometime…you don't mind do you? I know today was supposed to be your first actual date." The headless woman shifted and Shizuo knew that if she had her head, she would be sporting a large and dark, red blush.

_[O-Of course not! Boy's night out right?!]_  Shizuo smiled at the woman's obvious embarrassment.

"Thanks Celty." At that moment Shinra exited the room with a slight scowl on his face.

"….So what's the full extent to his injuries?" Shizuo asked.

"He's got two bullet wounds, one on his right shoulder, and the other in his stomach. They're both healing quite nicely and if he would just stay put then they would heal faster. We found him in the snow half covered and freezing so he has a mild case of hypothermia. Not too serious if he's careful. He'll suffer from a fairly bad cold in the next couple of days but he'll get over it soon enough. The bullet wounds will have the longest recovery time. He'll have to take it easy and rest. I'm assuming you want to take him?"

"Yeah….and Shinra…when Izaya's healthy enough we should go out for sushi."

"…Don't try to butter me up…I'm still upset."

"I know you are…but you understand right?"

"…"

"Shinra?"

_[Shinra!]_  Celty placed a hand on her hip and Shinra shuddered.

"Yeah I get it…you can take him home now…Call me if you have any problems…" Shinra said while crossing his arms, "And…I'll think about going for sushi with you two…" Shizuo smiled and clapped the doctor on his shoulder.

"Get some rest and you really need to get around some guys instead of just Celty. You're acting like a woman." Shinra grunted but made no move to do or say anything other than a glare for the woman comment, so Shizuo collected Izaya and his pain medication and the anti-biotic from Shinra as well as a thorough lecture on how to properly use them from then underground doctor.

"Thanks Shinra, I really do appreciate it." And with that, Shizuo left.

_UragirinoyuuyakeUragirinoyuu yakeUragirinoyuuyakeUragirin oyuuyakeDRRR_

_**Alright I know I'm supposed to be writing Problematic Teens but I keep bouncing between these two stories so I'm just going to post this one as well. Hope you enjoyed!**   
_

_**Thanks for reading,** _

_**Koibito~** _

__


	2. I do Delcare

**Chapter 2**

**I do Delare**

"Shi-Shizu-chan! Knock it off! That hurts!"

"Well relax!"

"I'm trying but you aren't exactly being gentle! OW! Or predictable."

"Damn sorry, I haven't done this before."

"I can tell!" Izaya complained then released a breathy moan of pain, "Ugh, take it out! Stop! It hurts!"

"Hang on I'm going to try again, quit moving around and I can get it." Shizuo readjusted then aimed again.

"No! I can do it myself!"

"Don't be a baby!"

"No! Shizuo! NO!" Without listening to Izaya's complaints and protests Shizuo pressed one hand on Izaya's back holding him to the couch, then he plunged the needle back into the pale skin on the informants butt, this time hitting the vein where he promptly pressed on the syringe and allowed the pain medication to flow from the needle and into the mans body.

"There. I got it." Shizuo smirked and crossed his arms unable to keep the smug tone from his voice.

"Ugh, it  _hurts_." Izaya complained earning an eye roll from Shizuo who pulled the informants boxers and pants back up.

"Get over it." Shizuo stated as he tossed the needle into the trash. Izaya turned onto his side and brought the covers up to his naked chest, pouting.

"Go away…" he grumbled.

"No, sit up I need to get your shirt on." Shizuo said as he held up the black pajama top.

"You could just get me my laptop so I can get to work." A slightly hopeful tone entered the informants tone as he looked with one eye at his boyfriend.

"I've already informed Namie, she's taking care of it."

"Namie is good, but even she can't run this whole city!" Izaya complained sitting up and wincing when he stretched his stomach just a bit too far.

"Shut up and sit still." Shizuo ordered as he forced the shirt over Izaya's head, "Stupid flea."

"Ugh, my head  _hurts_." Izaya complained as he brought his arms carefully through the sleeves in the shirt, "Can't you give me something for that?"

"Can't mix your medications, you know that." Shizuo said as he helped Izaya button the shirt. Izaya ran his shaking fingers through his hair before using the crook of his arm to cough into it.

"I'll grab you some tea." Shizuo said as he rubbed the informants back. Izaya nodded and curled up on the couch feeling absolutely miserable. Shizuo grabbed the tea but by the time he had returned to the room, Izaya was sleeping with his neck at an awkward angle and still curled up. Shizuo sighed but straightened the flea's neck out, then proceeded to enjoy the tea himself while watching Izaya's television.

_ThisisalinebreakindisguiseTh isisalinebreakindisguiseThis isalinebreakindisguise_

It was hot, he suffering through an unbearable amount of sticky, gross, sweat, and his eyes felt too heavy. That was all Izaya needed to know that he would be in a bad mood as he woke up, that is, if he could ever get his eyes open from their closed position. It felt as if they were caked with sleep and gunk that had accumulated from his sickness while he slept, which of course led him to wonder just how long he had been out. He managed to untangle one of his arms from the sheets and rubbed sluggishly at his eyes trying to remove the sticky film. There was a light chuckle from the other side of the room.

"You look like a little kid when you do that." Izaya frowned at the light teasing finally managing to open one eye to see that it was still dark.

"Shut up. You'd do it too if  _your_  eyes were glued shut from their own gunk!" Izaya snapped.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Shizuo mumbled while he grabbed a towel that he placed on the nightstand after he had carried Izaya to bed last night. He nudged Izaya's hand out of the way and ran the damp cloth over the male's eyes freeing them from the gummy prison. Izaya struggled to untangle himself from the sheets and blankets but failed as he pulled his arm a bit too far and caused the unpleasant tingling sensation to return to his arm.

"Calm down."

"Oh, coming from  _you_." Izaya growled earning a frown from Shizuo. The blonde didn't say a word but untangled the brunette and left the room. Izaya ran his good arm down his face and sighed, "Fuck." He mumbled knowing that he had just hit a sensitive nerve in his boyfriend's body. He ran his hand roughly through his hair making it stick up at odd ends and he stood slightly unbalanced, while gripping the nightstand next to the bed. First things first, he  _had_  to ditch his stupid shirt; it was the current reason for his uncomfortable temperature. After carefully removing the article of clothing he slowly made his way into the hall and he took a look at the steps the led downstairs and sighed.

Feeling the energy already leaving him and the pain creeping up on him he merely sat down ignoring his pride and shoving it in a little corner in his brain. He began to scoot down the stairs saving him precious energy and causing him less pain than walking. Even if it literally killed him to go down these stairs, he had to talk to Shizuo and apologize. He found said blonde brooding on the couch, not that the blonde would ever call it brooding. He ignored the look of shock and sat on the couch leaning his head on Shizuo's shoulder, panting slightly, then gripped the vest the man wore.

"Sorry." Izaya mumbled with a blush on his face. He lightly kissed the slightly older male.

"I haven't been able to see you for three months…or kiss you, let alone hold your hand. I don't know how you talked me into staying away from each other." Shizuo said and he tilted Izaya's chin toward him and kissed him again this time turning into something more passionate.

"I missed you too." Izaya said breathlessly after he had pulled away.

"You're forgiven." Shizuo said as he wrapped his arm around Izaya's bare shoulders, "What happened to your shirt?"

"I took it off, I'm boiling." Izaya groaned, "I hate being sick!"

"Don't put yourself in a position where you could be shot."

"It's not like I planned that."

"…We need to talk about that…I was serious when I said I was going to track them down." Shizuo said as he fingered the bandages going around Izaya's shoulder.

"They were Ex-Yakuza members Shizu-Chan."

"I don't care."

"I do."

"…"

"They're dangerous. I've already been taken by surprise and I don't need you getting taken by surprise either."

"Oh? The Great Orihara Izaya admitting to being surprised by a mere human?" Shizuo teased earning a light glare from said Orihara.

"Shut up." Izaya commanded.

"Whatever you say,  _babe_." Shizuo whispered in Izaya's ear earning a twitch of the eyebrow.

"I'm going to take a bath." Izaya grumbled somewhat embarrassed.

"Want help?"

"I'm perfectly capable of doing that on my own."

"I know that, I meant the stairs, but I can  _help_  you with a bath if you ask real nice." Shizuo gave a wolf like grin as he pinned Izaya underneath him on the couch making a light rosy color spread across his cheeks.

"I don't think I'm exactly healthy enough for such… _activities_ , but help up the stairs would be lovely." Izaya said with a wink. Shizuo grinned then shrugged. He grabbed Izaya's arms and hoisted him up so the young adult was on his back.

"I didn't mean I needed to be carried." Izaya mumbled but laid his head down on Shizuo's back as the blonde grabbed his legs and held them on either side of his body.

"You said you needed help, I'm giving it." Shizuo said, "Besides you're going to need those bandages off before you get in. I need to change them anyway."

"Fantastic." Izaya said dryly. He wrapped his arms around Shizuo's neck and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Shizuo asked softly making Izaya frown. When did Shizuo get so good at telling when he was upset?

"Nothing."

"Liar." Shizuo stated, "I know you too well."

"…" Izaya stayed silent trying to get his thoughts together.

"…What's wrong?"

"Just...thinking."

"About?"

"Pushy."

"I have to be with you."

"I don't know why they assaulted me…it makes my skin crawl to  _not_  know something that someone somewhere  _does_. I need to get back to work and find out everything I can before I they find out I'm still alive."

"You'll drive yourself into the ground."

"…I haven't before."

"Because I've stopped you."

"…Touché."

"I'll go out and see what I can find."

"What are you going to do Shizu-Chan? Walk into a middle of the Yakuza meeting and just  _ask_  why their ex-members are out for my blood?" Izaya questioned.

"If that's what it takes."

"…You can- you can't just go  _waltzing_  into the place like you own it! They'll  _kill_ you!"

"I'll deal with them. They won't have a chance to kill me." Shizuo said as he sat Izaya down on the toilet in the bathroom only to be slapped by said man. Shizuo blinked in shock as he touched his cheek, Izaya had been pissed at him before but not so much that his eyes blazed like a raging inferno that they were now, he'd never been slapped by Izaya before either.

"You dumbass! You protozoan! You-You amoeba! You will be  _killed_! I know how strong you are but you can't take on all of them!  _Especially_  since they know they can kill you by hitting you on the head or heart!" Izaya screamed. Shizuo blinked again, he had  _never_  heard Izaya scream before.

"…" he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Damn it!" Izaya cursed as his eyes became a liquid inferno. Shizuo stared, still absentmindedly touching his cheek, while he watched Izaya struggle with not letting the tears fall over the rims of pink eyes.

"Izaya…"

"I won't let you  _die_  Shizuo." Izaya said his voice raspy from yelling and holding back tears, "I won't. I wanted us to be as far away from each other as possible because I wanted you safe. I  _can't_  handle it if …if you..." The day was full of firsts; Izaya had never been this emotional with him before.

"…" He still couldn't think of something to say.

"Say  _something_  damn it!" Izaya yelled again as he brushed his knuckles under his eyelids. Shizuo, never one to deny his instinct, enfolded the Flea in a hug. He kissed the pale neck in front of him and with his own raspy voice, apologized.

"You just  _throw_  yourself into the middle of the action without  _thinking_." Izaya snapped refusing to give into the urge to grip the soft material in front of him.

"Do you even know how much you sound like a woman right now?" Shizuo questioned earning a glare and another slap.

"Shut up I don't sound like a woman I sound like worried boyfriend." Shizuo grinned and pulled the handle on the bathtub starting the water.

"Okay, so we'll compromise. I still want to find these people, but I won't go running head first into things. You can get the information right?" Shizuo asked as he adjusted the temperature smirking when he heard the offended snort.

"Of course I can get information, I'm an  _informant_  you protozoan."

"Good, but you only get a few hours…you're still recovering."

"Did you want to find them or not?"

"You are the great Orihara Izaya; you can make do with only a few hours of computer time."

"What are you my mother?"

"Hey! I'm around a hell of a lot more than she ever was!"

"…Touché." Shizuo gently unwound the bandages on Izaya's torso. A light gasp was heard as he accidentally tore off part of the bandages that had stuck to the pale skin from dried blood.

"Sorry." Shizuo murmured while trying to be gentle. He unwound the rest of the bandages from Izaya's waist. He helped the brunette slip out of the clothing before helping him climb into the bathtub.

"Ahh it's hot!" Izaya complained.

"It's lukewarm Izaya."

"It burns." He whined. Shizuo placed the back of his hand on Izaya's forehead.

"You have a fever." Shizuo stated as he turned the water down. Izaya rolled his eyes while sticking his foot under the colder water that was slowly filling the tub. A fever was obvious; he was sweating for no apparent reason, and he was unusually crabby. Shizuo sighed trying to keep his temper in check. There were times when Izaya really did piss him off. Shizuo turned the water off just as the water brushed the tops of Izaya's legs.

"Don't we have any bath salts?" Izaya pouted.

"You can't have any with those injuries Izaya." Shizuo said while pinching the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb.

"Lame." Izaya mumbled while flicking the top of the bath water like a reprimanded four year old. Shizuo sighed trying to stay calm. He really needed a cigarette.

"I'll be back…just don't let the water get inside your wounds." Shizuo sighed.

"Taking a smoke?" Izaya asked with his head tilted to the side.

"Yeah." Shizuo said as he located his pack of cigarettes and lighter. He stepped outside onto the balcony and bit down on the end of the cigarette. After fumbling with the lighter for a moment, he finally lit it and touched it to the end of his cigarette. He pocketed the lighter while he inhaled relishing the calming feeling that immediately washed over him.

He released the smoke in the form of a sigh and inhaled again, leaning against the wall of the house, not even feeling the chill. He barely felt the cold of being outside, unlike Izaya who tended to become very cold very fast. His stomach crawled with a nervous feeling when he remembered that Shinra had said that he had mild hypothermia. How long had Izaya laid out in the cold before Celty had arrived? He took another drag and paused a moment for the calm. He would need to call Tom and let him know that he needed a few days off. He wouldn't tell him it was for Izaya, not yet, but that he was going to be taking care of a friend who got injured for a little bit and wouldn't be able to come in for a few weeks. Of course this meant that he had to deal with Izaya for weeks on end. It was strange to think that even though they had been dating for years, they still hadn't spent this much time with each other since middle school. They both had changed so much; Shizuo wasn't sure just how much he could take of Izaya before he snapped.

The little flea was starting to annoy him and there really was only so much of Izaya he could take in a day; that time was shortened when he was sick. He always seemed to be, well for a lack of better word, bitchy. Izaya always changed his mind on  _something_  and if it didn't go how he wanted it then Shizuo could expect some sort of an attitude. He could just leave the Flea and let someone else deal with it, but the pain would be great to Shizuo himself. The man annoyed him to the ends of the earth but there was also the feeling of satisfaction when they were together, and the strange sensation of peace. There were so many sweet moments the two had as a couple as well, enough to make the bitter moments okay. Celty's words from that afternoon were bouncing around in his head. Did Izaya really want him to say "I love you?" In the end how much did it really matter? Izaya loved him, he had never said it, but Shizuo  _knew_. At first, it felt strange to love someone other than Kasuka but every time he laid eyes on the man a little feeling of joy popped up and upon occasion was crushed by the Flea's annoying, "I am God" attitude. Was it perhaps that Izaya was waiting for him to say the words? Did he not feel that Shizuo loved him more than anything? Shizuo took out another cigarette and lit it struggling to find a balance in his mind where things would make sense.

"You okay?" Shizuo nearly jumped at the sound of the other male and blinked when he saw that Izaya's hair was dripping slightly onto his shirt from the bath. His bare feet curled in the snow and his arms gripped his elbows as he hugged himself, trying to keep warm.

"Yeah, why?"

"You've been out here for almost an hour." Izaya stated.

"Oh, sorry about that." Shizuo said while looking at the cigarette in his hand.

"No, its okay…I just got worried." Izaya answered looking slightly pale in the light of the moon. The wind blew and the smaller man shivered.

"Go inside, you shouldn't be out here in this weather." Shizuo said as he turned while sticking the cigarette in his mouth and removing his shirt, he placed the large shirt over Izaya's shoulders as the younger man shook his head, and then put an arm around the small man. The brunette nudged himself into the blonde's side taking the precious warmth he provided then reached up with nimble fingers and plucked the cigarette from between Shizuo's lips.

"You know you shouldn't smoke these, they're shit for your lungs." The brunette said as he placed the cigarette between his own lips and took a drag. Shizuo frowned and attempted to take the cancer stick back, "You're going to kill me Shizu-Chan, making me smoke these so you don't smoke too many in one day," Izaya said in a pouting tone then looked up at the older man. Shizuo rolled his eyes and reached for his packet of cigarettes but they too were plucked from his grip as he brought them from his pant pocket. Izaya wiggled his finger in front of Shizuo's face making a tut tut tut sound. Shizuo frowned as Izaya finished off the rest of his cigarette and tossed the butt into the ash tray by the door. Shizuo sighed and knowing that he wouldn't get his cigarette's back, he led the younger into the house as his shivering increased. The progress to the living room was slow as Izaya tried not to stretch anything out too far. Shizuo was never too far away when Izaya tripped or stumbled over fatigued feet, and always caught the other by the elbow and gently helped him to the couch.

"Did you wrap it yet?" Shizuo asked as he grabbed the end of Izaya's shirt to look.

"No. Not sure how…." Izaya answered while helping to remove the shirt. Shizuo nodded and left Izaya sitting on the couch while he grabbed the bandages from the bathroom. He sanitized the wound with something similar to Neosporin then gently placed one of the gauze pads on the wound and asked Izaya to hold it for him. He placed the end of the bandages on Izaya's side and he wrapped it around the slim body until he had just enough to loop the bandage over and tie it on top of the wound. He did the same for the shoulder wound.

"I really do need to get some work done." Izaya said as he moved to his computers loosely placing a hand over his stomach.

"I suppose I can make something to eat if you're hungry." Shizuo said as he rubbed his chin.

"Yeah, I didn't really get dinner…" Izaya agreed as he gingerly sat down at his desktop and turned on all of his computers. The room fell into silence as Shizuo shuffled through the fridge to find something to cook and Izaya concentrated on doing eight things at once.

"How do you feel about breakfast for dinner?" Shizuo asked after only seeing eggs, ham, and other items to make omelets with. There was no answer, "Izaya!" There was no reply which earned a deep sigh from Shizuo; the informant was too far into his work to surface for a while.

"Screw it, you get what you get." Shizuo grumbled as he pulled out the ingredients. Thirty minutes later he had an omelet, sausage, and a small salad on a plate for Izaya and one for himself. Shizuo walked past the living room and into Izaya's spacious work area.

"Oi Flea, dinners ready."

_"..."_

"Izaya!"

_clickclicktaptaptap._  Shizuo sighed and stood in front of his boyfriend only to be ignored as Izaya switched computers typing again and smirking triumphantly. He switched computers again and the smirk disappeared, a frown in its place. Shizuo stood behind the informant and covered his eyes with both hands.

"If you don't get up and go to dinner now, I will pick you up and force you there myself." Shizuo threatened. Izaya gripped Shizuo's hands with his own.

"Yeah, okay just let me finish this."

"No."

"Shizu-chan." Izaya whined, "If I stop now they'll all wonder where I've gone."

"Say goodbye." Shizuo ordered as he released his captive. Six chats and a blog later Shizuo had forced Izaya up and out of the chair and into the kitchen.

"Breakfast?" Izaya asked as he sat next to Shizuo.

"I asked if it was okay but you didn't answer. You really need to go shopping." Shizuo answered as he cut into his omelet.

"Oh I was going to do that today but I got a little…well sidetracked."

"Is that what you'd call it?"

"…Yes." Shizuo rolled his eyes but stayed silent. Shizuo followed Izaya to the couch where they sat with the T.V. on for background noise purposes. Shizuo shifted slightly as Izaya leaned against him plate cradled in one hand and the other holding his chopsticks. Shizuo turned his torso and opened his legs to allow the brunette to sit in his lap.

"How's Kasuka?" Izaya asked softly.

"Well, he's got another gig but he'll be away and in a prefecture called Yamanashi. He says it's a town with lots of scenery and nice people so I'm not too worried. He should only be there for a couple of weeks." Shizuo answered.

"That's good…warn me if he comes to visit again. I didn't exactly  _like_  hiding out in your closet while you entertained him."

"I'm not hiding it anymore Izaya. I'm sticking as close to you as I can, I'll protect you."

"What happens when you have to go to work?" Izaya asked with a slight glare.

"Then I go to work and I'll  _trust you_  to call if anything happens. I'll always have my phone on." Shizuo answered, "I'm not giving you a say on this one Izaya. We tried your way and it worked for a little bit, but now you're hurt and you can barely walk into another room without getting winded."

"That doesn't mean I'm helpless."

"No, it means you're vulnerable."

"I can still fight them off."

"For how long? Not as long as it used to be."

"…Once we come out with this Shizu-Chan, there's no going back." Izaya said while craning his neck to look at the blonde.

"I know." Shizuo said with a stern voice making Izaya smirk.

"As long as you're sure." Izaya said then offered a kiss to the other man. They settled back and turned their attention to the show. Shizuo stacked their empty plates and for the moment Izaya forgot about work and relaxed on the couch with Shizuo, who was now rubbing light circles on his thigh with one hand while the other was wrapped lightly around his waist, being mindful of his injury. Izaya shivered slightly and Shizuo responded by pulling the brunette closer and laying his cheek on the soft dark brown, almost black hair. It was the moments like this that Shizuo loved. Where they didn't have to hide or say anything. Where the atmosphere just felt  _right_  and no one had to do anything to make it better. Where they didn't have to pretend to hate each other and where they  _knew_  they were safe. And wasn't that all that mattered? They didn't have to say the words if they could feel them. For moments like this, Shizuo would give anything just to have one more. Shizuo looked down to see that Izaya had fallen asleep and was slightly curled up in his lap. Sighing he shifted so the other would be more comfortable in his lap. Izaya shifted, curling into Shizuo and laying his cheek on the elders chest.

"You're a pain." Shizuo mumbled while running his fingers through the silky locks of the younger. Izaya responded with the slow rise and fall of his chest and a soft exhale through his mouth every few seconds. Shizuo sighed and wrapped his arms around the man preparing to fall asleep as well when he remembered about the computers. If there was one thing Izaya _hated_  it was leaving the computers on overnight and not completing work.

With a small groan Shizuo carefully moved Izaya so he was lying on the couch then went over to Izaya's work area. He attempted to sound like Izaya by saying that something had come up and he was leaving the chats. The responses were fast and they came all at once. Shizuo barely had time to read one before the next popped up and the next. Sighing he saved the conversations and logged off. He properly saved the rest of Izaya's work before closing the laptops and shutting off all the computers. Feeling too tired to carry Izaya upstairs to bed, he simply took a spot on the couch and gathered the other in his arms, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

_UragirinoyuuyakeUragirinoyuu yakeUragirinoyuuyakeuragirin oyuuyakeDRRR_

"The subject has been terminated."

"Gentlemen, we have officially eliminated the pest of Ikebukuro and Shibuya!"

"Have you now?" One voice stood above the cheering that had erupted in the storage building.

"What would make you question my two best men?" The leader questioned his hand in a fist and resting under his chin as he sat on a chair on a raised platform.

"Where's his head?" The man asked, "Where's the proof that he's dead and that he didn't contact someone as he died. They sure as hell didn't shoot him in a lethal place."

"I don't believe this; we are being questioned by someone who has only been with us for a week?" One of the assassins sneered.

"That's fine, you can believe that you killed him, but when he shows up towing around Heiwajima with him then you can die knowing that you did  _not_  kill the infamous informant." The man shrugged holding his hands at shoulder level and palm up showing a pointer finger was missing on his right hand.

"What do you mean Shirozake? Heiwajima has made it his life's goal to kill Orihara." The leader questioned.

"You do not know? Has no one informed you?"

"Informed me of what?"

"They are a couple." Laughter erupted from the people gathered only to be silenced by a hand from their chief.

"And what is  _your_  proof?"

"Other than the fact that they were dating in middle school and just so happened to "Break up" in high school when Orihara made an enemy of you? Only a few…guesses."

"And what are these, guesses?" The leader asked impatiently. Shirozake smirked and crossed his arm.

"Well now, that would cost you."

"I am your leader, you are obliged to answer."

"Perhaps leaving this little kiddy club is my only option then. Go ahead kill off your traitor." He laughed, his smirk growing wider as he spread his arms daring them to kill him. The boss grit his teeth then clenched his fists.

"Very well then." Shirozake collected a large roll of cash from the man and counted it before speaking.

"Heiwajima is living with Orihara as we speak. He hasn't left that apartment for a whole day and one of my own informants has notified me that they just fell asleep, together." Shirozake answered while pocketing the money.

"I guess we'll be making a house visit."

"That might not be the best option."

"Are you questioning me?"

"Quite frankly yes, I am." Shirozake placed a hand in his pocket, "There are people living in those apartments that aren't your target. They aren't just commoners either; you have to have money to get  _those_  apartments. Anyone you may injure could be someone important enough to get you all thrown in jail. No, this would need careful planning and no offence but your supposed  _best_  have already failed you. I would like to suggest myself to complete this mission."

"And why should I trust you?"

"Why shouldn't you? I want Orihara Izaya dead just as much as you do. He's hurt both of us too close for it to slip away. You lost a wife, I lost a sister." Shirozake answered with a shrug.

"Very well but some of my closest men will go as well."

"Send them all if you like but Orihara is to only be killed by me."

"…Very well."

**Thanks for reading,**

**Koibito~**


	3. The Other Two

**Chapter 3**

**The other Two**

"Oh, I have to go now guys! I'll see you around!" Kida Masaomi chirped as he ran from the park bench where he had been, unsuccessfully, hitting on girls while Ryuugamine Mikado and Sonohara Anri had watched him. The hours were getting late and Kida knew his friends wanted to go home but he didn't want to say goodbye, it was selfish of him and he knew that, but he didn't want to let go. When he got the text from an old gang member, however, he knew he needed to go and fast. He ran off after watching the two shake their heads and walk away. The smile fell from Kida's face as he stuffed his hands in his pockets wondering if he was even going to be walking home tonight. He leaned against the wall in a dark alley waiting for the second man to show. Just when he was getting agitated enough to leave, something in the shadows shifted and Kida's muscles tensed.

"Ahh, Kida-kun long time no see."

"Yeah." Kida said lamely carefully watching the other's moves.

"You seem tense, don't trust an old friend?"

"Honestly? No."

"So harsh Kida-kun, you can trust me."

"That didn't work out so well last time, if I remember correctly."

"…Still bitter are we?"

"…"

"Well, that was the past and this is the now." The man stepped out of the shadows slightly, exposing a hand that had no pointer finger.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm going to need you and your little friends help." The voice created shivers down Kida's spine. Instantly anger bubbled over the lining of his stomach and a nasty, growling sound ripped from his throat making the words seem like venom, " _If you even think about touching Mikado, I'll rip you to shreds right here."_  A chuckle sent the shiver of ice sliding down Kida's back again.

"Protective are we? That's good, maybe you'll be able to protect  _this_  one if something goes wrong, you see  _boy_  you don't have a choice in this. Do you really think your precious little Mikado will be able to protect himself from me? Do you really think you'll be able to kill me? You're unarmed aren't you? Don't even answer your face says it all."

"I  _swear_  Shirozake, if you attack Mikado, I'll  _kill_  you." Kida's hands were curled tightly into fists and a slight tingle told him that he was creating crimson, half moon shapes in the palms of his hands.

"I like that look in your eye. It means you're serious." Before Kida could even react the older man had pinned him to the alley wall with a forearm against his windpipe and a gun pressed to the side of his head, "Once again, you don't have a choice in the matter and you  _can't_  stop me. Just say yes and let me give you the details." Kida gripped tightly at the arm crushing his throat, gagging when he tried to draw in air. The pressure lightened just a tad and he was able to whisper out words.

"Don't hurt him," Kida pleaded his heart pounding in his ears as the thoughts of Mikado being ruthlessly killed rushed into his mind.

"Just cooperate and little Mikado will walk away from this scratch free," Shirozake cooed. White dots crowded Kida's vision and he coughed trying to get some sort of air while attempting to ignore the gun pressed to the side of his head. Reluctantly he nodded agreeing to whatever Shirozake wanted from him. The gun disappeared but the pressure at his throat stayed. Kida drug his feet across the ground trying to get away from the ex-Yellow Scarves and ex-Yakuza member.

"Your job is simple. All I need you to do is get close to Orihara Izaya. I'll pay a visit to little Mikado myself and let him know what's going on." The spike of fear that ran through Kida's body was enough to send his heartbeat skyrocketing but not enough to give him an adrenaline boost that would knock the older man away, "No need to panic, I won't tell him you're the leader of the Yellow Scarves." The arm vanished from his throat and Kida fell to the ground catching himself with his arms, coughing and gagging for breath.

"I'm glad you accept my little offer," Kida's chin was harshly gripped and he was forced to look into dark eyes, "I'll let you know what to do next when you befriend him." Shirozake's rough mannerisms were expected; the knee that connected with his diaphragm however, was not. A sharp yelp came from his throat and the black tunnel that forced its way into his vision, invited the ground to his face. That was the last thing he remembered before being slung over a shoulder.

_Linebreakindisguseagainlineb reakindisguiseagainlinebreak indisguiseagain_

Shirozake shifted the body on his shoulder before casually knocking on the apartment door. There was a call of a "Please wait," as a few things had shifted around. The sounds of hurried and nervous feet were heard as they scurried across the small floor in the flat. The door opened quickly after that and the poor boy on the other side froze in shock at seeing his best friend slung over the shoulder of a stranger.

"Ahh, Mikado-kun." The boy seemed to be shocked out of his stupor.

"H-How do you know my name?"

"I've just been watching is all."

"…A stalker?" Mikado asked softly his eyes darting to Kida's still figure.

"Hmm? Oh, he's not dead. In fact I'll hand him over to you, as soon as you accept my offer."

"Offer?"

"You see Orihara Izaya seems to be interested in you. You hold his attention longer than most humans. All I need you to do is get close to him, be a friend he can rely on. If you agree I'll give you your friend right here and now…but if not well…" He carefully shifted his jacket back to show the pistol the waistband of his pants. Mikado's eyes widened as his heartbeat increased.

"Okay, okay! Just don't hurt Kida-kun!"

"Good boy." Shirozake grabbed the back of Kida's hood and tossed the boy at Mikado who fell to the ground after attempting to catch his friend, "Once you've completed that part of the mission, I'll come back and let you know what else to do alright?" Mikado gulped and nodded wrapping his arms tightly around Kida's motionless figure. With that the man slid his hands into his pockets and left, closing the door with a small click.

"Kida-kun!" Mikado breathlessly called for his friend's name. The blonde head merely rolled into Mikado's chest as the body was rattled back and forth. With a worried noise from the back of his throat, Mikado hooked his arms under Kida's armpits and dragged him across the floor. He carefully lowered the older male to the floor and rushed to his futon. He took it down from its little spot in a shelf and quickly spread it out on the floor. He pulled the covers back and grabbed Kida again. He gave an annoyed huff of air when the blonde's feet caught on the end of the futon. He lowered the blonde to the ground again and took hold of his ankles and dragged them over the futon. After carefully aligning the body he removed the sweatshirt from his unconscious friend's torso. He sharply inhaled when he saw the red swelling around the tan neck in front of him, his eyes darted down to make sure his best friend was in fact breathing before staring at the inflammation again.

"Kida-kun! Wake up." Mikado shook the slim shoulders as he shouted. He bit his lip when he got no reaction. His computer beeped, telling him that someone logged into the chat room. He covered Kida up and carefully padded over to his cell phone. He grabbed the device and flipped it open his thumb hesitated over Dollars. With a determined look and steel in his eyes he pressed the button and sent out a text.

_**[Send information on Orihara Izaya. Who is he?]** _

Texts immediately started coming in:

_[He's dangerous! Stay away!]_

_[This is the leader of Dollars isn't it!]_

_[You want information on an informant? How bold boss]_

_[What did he do?]_

_**[How can I find him?]** _

_[Doesn't he live in Shibuya, in the really nice apartment complex?]_

His computer chimed, signaling a message.

{Kanra: Did you all just get that text?}

{Seton: Yes…I wonder why the leader wants information on Izaya…}

{Kanra: Who knows :)}

{Seton: Perhaps he sent someone after him…}

{Kanra: Unlikely…TanakaTaro? Thoughts?}

{TanakaTaro: Perhaps he's tired of being messed with?}

{Seton: ?}

{Kanra: Ooooh you know something don't you Tanaka!}

{TanakaTaro: Gotta go…A friends over}

{Seton:…bye}

{Kanra: No no! Share!}

{Seton: Kanra!}

{Kanra: .}

**Private Message**

{PM Kanra to TanakaTaro: Tell or I'll make a visit to your place.} Mikado blinked slightly shocked his cursor hovering over the log out button. He glanced at Kida who began to stir and was now coughing slightly.

{Kanra: I'm commminnnggg}

{TanakaTaro: I don't know anything about him. The Dollars leader must want something from him. I really do have to go now, sorry.}

{Kanra: Liar}

**TanakaTaro has left the chat**

Mikado was about to go to Kida's side when he phone buzzed again,

 _[If you want Orihara Izaya, you have to find Heiwajima Shizuo.]_  Mikado sighed; this was becoming something much bigger than he wanted to deal with.

"Heiwajima Shizuo huh…who is that?" Mikado thought back to when he first came to Ikebukuro, Kida-kun had told him to stay away from both Heiwajima and Orihara. Heiwajima was the blonde who threw vending machines and Orihara was the one that Kida was so tense around…he was also the one that seemed to want to talk with Mikado. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage?

"Mikado?" Mikado blinked and turned on his heel.

"Ahh! Kida-kun! You're awake, I'm glad. How do you feel?" Mikado rushed to Kida's side while feeling for a temperature.

"My head hurts…so does my chest and neck…But are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Mikado assured as he eyed the now black and blue bruise on Kida's neck.

"He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No…You should rest! Do you want some tea? I can make you tea." Mikado rose to his feet and turned prepared to make some tea when he was stopped by the firm grip on his wrist.

"Are you lying?" Kida seemed somewhat hurt as he asked his question.

"No! I'm okay really!" Mikado rushed out feeling somewhat nervous as Kida held his wrist. Kida yanked on Mikado's arm causing the younger, clumsier teen to fall to the floor. Kida cupped Mikado's face and look him in the eye his own golden eyes full of an unsure hurt.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not," Mikado answered his voice unwavering but his heart pounding in his chest; Kida was just so close to him. The golden eyes searched the navy before the younger black haired boy was pulled into a hug.

"Sorry," Kida mumbled. "I was worried."

" _I_  was worried,  _you_  were the one who was unconscious," Mikado answered hesitantly wrapping his arms around the other teen. After a short and slightly awkward moment, Mikado pulled away mumbling something about making tea. Kida bit his lip; he couldn't take it anymore it was now or never. He needed to know how Mikado felt. He grabbed Mikado's wrist again before the boy got too far and pulled him down to the ground earning a lovely surprised noise.

"Mi-Mikado…" Kida was blushing heavily.

"Y-Yes?" Kida placed a hand on the back of Mikado's head and after hesitating for just one moment said,

"I really like you," He brought their lips together in a clumsy kiss.

_UragirinoyuuyakeUragirinoyuu yakeuragirinoyuuyakeuragirin oyuuyakeDRRR_

"Where exactly do you think you're going?" Shizuo asked as Izaya grabbed keys and his jacket.

"I need to make a house visit."

"No."

"No?"

"Come back, you don't need to go see anyone."

"I beg to differ Shizu-Chan. I'll be back soon though."

"…I'm going with you."

"I don't need-,"

"I don't care. I'm going with you." Shizuo grabbed his coat and a scarf that he wrapped around Izaya's neck then forced the younger to take a step forward by gently tugging on said scarf, "No ifs ands or buts." He kissed the frowning lips and took the keys from the others hand. Shizuo took Izaya's hand and led him out of the apartment complex.

"Shizuo…People are staring."

"So let them," Shizuo shrugged while tightening his grip on Izaya's hand. A shiver went through Izaya's body and he shifted closer to Shizuo who responded by releasing the others hand and putting his arm around the shorter man's shoulders. That was when the whispering began. Izaya paid for the train tickets when they arrived at the station.

"They're so predictable." Izaya mumbled as he looked at a group of people in the corner of the station. Shizuo looked across the station and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's what they do, they're high school girls. Anyway, why are we going to 'bukuro?"

"I told you Shizu-Chan, I need to make a house visit."

"…Well if you start feeling tired let me know and we'll take a break."

"I'm fine. It's just a couple of train rides and a little walk."

"Whatever you say," Shizuo said as he found them a seat. The train ride was silent as they rode and arrived in Ikebukuro an hour later. Thirty minutes after that they arrived at some apartments that seemed like they could use some shaping up.

"Who's here?"

"TanakaTaro," Izaya answered.

"Who?"

"We'll we're about to find out," Izaya said then paused and turned to Shizuo, "I need you to do me a favor…he said he had a friend over and I need you to keep said friend in the room the whole time."

"Why?"

"Just do it," he said then knocked on the apartment door that he had traced the computers signal to. There was a quiet yelp and the scuffling of feet before the lock was undone from the inside and the door was pulled open.

"Ye-oh…" The black haired teen took a look at his two visitors and was promptly pulled away from the door by an unknown source and the door was shut.

"That wasn't very nice Mikado-kun~" Izaya sang.

"Mikado?" Shizuo questioned.

"Turns out I do know him." Izaya opened the door and waltzed in only to be stopped by the sight of one Kida Masaomi holding Mikado back with one arm and glaring at Izaya.

"And he is?" Shizuo asked as he looked around the cramped apartment.

"Ah, Kida Masaomi," Izaya answered to Shizuo as he placed his hands on his hips. He turned to Kida, "What a pleasant surprise."

"Get out," Kida growled.

"So cruel Kida-Kun! I just want to have a little conversation with little Mikado…or shall I say, TanakaTaro."

"How do you know that name?" Mikado asked somewhat shocked, he only used that name when talking with Kanra or Seton, or even Kida.

"Didn't I tell you to leave Mikado!" Kida hissed, "Go!"

"No, I'll talk to him." Mikado pressed his hand on Kida's arm trying to lower it.

"Are you  _crazy_?" Kida asked as he put his hand against Mikado's chest.

"I'll call for you if I need you then. Okay?"

"I'll stay here." Shizuo offered knowing, just by Kida's body language exactly how he felt about leaving his friend with two of Ikebukuro's most dangerous. "Be nice." He added to Izaya. Mikado snuck around Kida's outstretched arm and went to the hallway with Izaya following. The door clicked shut behind them and Kida stood a fury in his eyes that had been absent for years.

"Damn it!" He kicked the nightstand.

"And people say  _I_  have anger issues."

"Shut up! You didn't just allow your best friend to go into a hallway  _alone_  with  _Orihara_!"

"He'll be fine." Kida felt his eyebrow twitch, "You should probably worry about yourself." All the angry words that were about to spew from Kida's lips vanished as his confusion grew.

"Huh?"

"You should ice that." Shizuo pointed to the ugly looking bruises on Kida's neck.

"Its fine," Kida mumbled absentmindedly rubbing at his neck and unintentionally irritating it sending him into a coughing fit. Shizuo sighed and bent to look in the small freezer then took out two packages of frozen food and placed them around Kida's neck.

"Make sure you remove them every thirty minutes and just let it warm up so it doesn't stay contracted." Shizuo said as he leaned against the wall checking his watch. Kida glanced at the door to the apartment then slid against the wall burying his face in his hands letting the frozen food fall to the ground. It felt as if the world was falling around him and Heiwajima was there to make sure it crushed him.

"Fuck," He hissed.

"Headache?"

"No," Kida lied earning a sigh from Shizuo.

"I sure as hell didn't tag along to play therapist."

"Good, leave and take your parasite with you." Kida grabbed his hair and tried to keep the thoughts of Mikado in the hallway with Orihara out of his head. However thinking of Mikado made him think of the kiss he had planted on the teen. He sighed hoping that he didn't entirely shoot his relationship to hell when he kissed the shy boy. Mikado seemed awfully eager to leave the apartment with Orihara even though Kida had specifically told him that he was  _dangerous_.

"Parasite huh, I'll have to use that one when he pisses me off." Shizuo's fingers itched toward his pocket where his cigarettes were but he knew enough to not smoke in these apartments.

"I thought you were leaving." Shizuo sighed deeply and sat next to the teen.

"I don't know what went on between you and Izaya nor do I want to know. I can assure you, he's not going to kill or maim your friend. He may come off like that but he's never physically hurt someone unless they attack first. He reads people pretty easily."

"Mikado is different!" Kida nearly shouted, "It's like he attracts trouble! Walking up to it like trouble has been his friend since he was a kid! Like people are never dangerous, I don't think Orihara gets a good read on him and  _that's_  why he's always trying to get around him. Mikado isn't dumb he should  _know_  stay away."

"He doesn't seem like that kind of kid, that would get swayed easily I mean."

"No…he won't be pulled in by a few fancy words," Kida said mainly to himself, "He's stronger than that…he's not like me. He's stronger than me…different."

"Different huh? Perhaps that's why Izaya wanted to come here. Although he was on the chartrooms before he just decided to leave." Shizuo scratched his head.

"Why would Mikado be talking to him?!" Kida's head snapped up his emotions swirling in a tunnel.

"He probably didn't even know it." Shizuo said as he leaned against the wall by the door.

"…"

"Izaya changes his personality and name online to throw off rival gangs," Shizuo said settling for chewing on an unlit cigarette. "It's how he gets information and spreads it."

"I don't care about his disgusting habits!"

"That makes two of us," Shizuo chuckled. There was a slam outside of the apartment causing Kida to jump up and tensed, heading for the door. Shizuo grabbed the teen by the hood of his jacket and pulled him back down then forced him to lie down.

"Let go!"

"I was serious you know," Shizuo changed the subject, "You really should ice that, it'll swell up and you'll end up having a hard time breathing," Shizuo said as he placed the frozen food back on Kida's neck while holding the flailing teen down with just one hand.

"Stop!" Kida yelped then fell into a coughing fit.

"You see, now you've irritated it. I don't know what you're so worried about anyway. I already told you, Izaya just wants some information not a fancy head to take home (no pun intended)." Shizuo released the teens shoulder as he turned onto his side to cough. Shizuo sighed and stood, this kid was strange but he could understand the feelings of being worried about someone you cared for. Hell if it was him in that kids shoes he'd probably be the same way…except he would have knocked the door down by this point. He grabbed a clean glass from the drainer and filled it with water.

"Here." He offered the glass to the blonde who seemed to be wheezing on the floor. Gold eyes slid to the glass and the boy slowly sat up accepting the glass with a nod of the head.

"Thanks," Kida mumbled after taking a few sips. Shizuo silently placed the frozen food back on the child's neck.

"Why are you so stressed out?" Shizuo asked trying to convince himself that he was curious instead of playing therapist. This earned him a slight glare, a calculating look, and a sigh of submission before he got an answer.

"I think I blew my relationship with Mikado."

"How's so?"

"I kissed my best friend," Kida admitted, "Fuck I'm stupid."

"I won't disagree to that. How'd he react?"

"He just kind of sat there, in shock I guess."

"Well he didn't push you away, or yell at you. I'd take that as something but you'll just have to ask him instead of taking my word." Shizuo said while checking the time. Izaya's bandages would need to be changed soon. There was a loud crash from outside the door and a yelp from Mikado.

"O-Orihara-san!" Shizuo didn't stop Kida this time, something was off. He followed Kida out of the room and cursed under his breath when he saw that Izaya had passed out and Mikado was trying to hold up the older male. Shizuo grabbed Izaya and quickly moved him inside, lifting up the black shirt to see that the bandages were coated in red liquid.

"Damn it," he cussed.

"Mikado! You're bleeding!" Kida's voice came closer as he ushered Mikado into the room.

"I hit my head on the wall when he fell…" Mikado answered.

"Do you have any bandages in here?" Shizuo asked as he quickly worked on removing the bandages from Izaya's body.

"Uh, yeah let me get them." Mikado quickly left for the bathroom while holding the back of his head. He brought out bandages and things to clean Izaya's wounds with.

"Sit." Kida ordered. Mikado hesitantly sat on the floor while Kida grabbed a cotton ball and dipped it in the liquid. He gently touched it to the back of Mikado's head while Shizuo made quick work of cleaning and wrapping Izaya's wounds.

"Ahh! Kida-kun! That hurts!" Mikado lurched forward but was stopped short by Kida grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back.

"I know but it needs to be cleaned or it'll get infected," Kida claimed while pressing the sanitizing liquid to Mikado's wound again. The teen yelped and tried to leave again but was pulled back once again, by the blonde who grabbed both of Mikado's wrists and held them together in one hand and cleansed the wound with the other. They both ignored Shizuo who was taking Izaya's pulse and smirking.

"Kida- _kun_  stop!" Mikado pleaded as Shizuo pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. Kida moved his arm across Mikado's chest and held the boy back from rising once again.

"Shinra? Hey I'm pretty sure he's only passed out but I think you should come take a look anyway."

"…"

"Yes Izaya, and we aren't at the apartment right now, we're actually in Ikebukuro. I know he's not supposed to be outside but the flea wouldn't take no for an answer. Yeah fine I'll do that next time." There was a moment of silence before Shizuo asked for Mikado's address, then gave it to Shinra upon receiving it from the black haired teen.

"Okay, see you soon," Shizuo answered as Kida finished bandaging Mikado's wound.

"What did he want?" Kida whispered.

"Just to ask some questions," Mikado answered while gingerly touching the bandages.

"Like?" The blush that came to Mikado's cheeks only made Kida more nervous.

"N-Nothing really," Mikado answered felling embarrassed as his mind drifted to the conversation in the hallway.

_"If you don't tell me what information you already have on me I'll have to tell Blondie that you have the hot's for him." Once Izaya had seen the blush on Mikado's face he knew this was the right blackmail to pick. It was clearly a sensitive area for the awkward teen._

_"I think he already knows…" Mikado's fingers ghosted over his lips. Izaya frowned; this was not the reaction he was expecting._

_"Very well, I could just let it slip that the leader of the Dollars is his best friend." Izaya shrugged as if the matter didn't particularly matter to him. The blush fell away and a hardened look came into Mikado's blue eyes. His outer personality shattered only to be replaced by a calm, cool, and collected one. He began to look like the gang leader that he was._

_"Masaomi doesn't need to know that, I don't have the information I wanted on you but I did get a pleasing end result."_

_"Enlighten me."_

_Mikado chuckled darkly._

_"You're at my door are you not?" The grin on Izaya's face widened._

_"I thought there was something different about you. If Kida-kun knew-," Mikado slammed his fist into the wall beside him, a momentary lapse in control._

_"I said no." His voice was smooth and full of a serious intent that brought the cold realization upon Izaya that not only was the teen serious, he was willing to hurt Izaya to get what he wanted. Izaya's dark eyebrow rose into his hairline._

_"My, my what a temper." There was a loud yelp from inside the room and a crash. Mikado's gang appearance dropped like a rock and his eyebrows furled creating the eternal worried look. He took a step toward the apartment door but was held back by Izaya's pale hand around his wrist. Within seconds Mikado was pulled away and shoved against the wall, then pinned there._

_"W-What are you doing?" Mikado asked as he tried to press his back against the wall to escape the sudden closeness of the informant._

_"He's fine," Izaya said avoiding Mikado's question, "I want to know why you seem to think that you need information on me."_

_"Wha-You, How do you…" Now that Mikado thought back on it, Izaya always seemed to know what Mikado had wanted from him…just how did Izaya know that he wanted information on him that quickly? Izaya held up his cell phone showing the mass message that Mikado had sent out only hours before. If that didn't scare the poor high school student, Izaya's sudden pale face and watery eyes did._

_"You're in the Dollars…" Mikado whispered. Someone had invited Orihara to be an honorary Dollar member. Mikado managed one step before Izaya's strength seemed to leave him and his arm grew weak allowing Mikado another step. Sweat began to form on his forehead and the informants breathing quickened._

_"A-Are you feeling okay Orihara-san?" Izaya blinked once as if he were having trouble hearing Mikado. One of Izaya's hands moved to his abdomen and the other began to weakly clutch at Mikado's shirt._

_"Oh god." Mikado whispered as red began to drip over the side of Izaya's fingers, "Maybe you should sit down…Orihara-san?" Izaya didn't seem to hear him at all this time, no blink no nothing. Izaya suddenly dropped to the ground his grip on Mikado's jacket forced the teen down with him._

" _O-Orihara-san!" Mikado's head cracked against the wall behind him as he reached out to catch the older male before his face met concrete. That was when the door opened…_

" _Mikado_!" Kida's voice sounded awfully frantic and the tight grip on his shoulders had been missed until now.

"Ah, sorry Kida-kun…" Mikado said vaguely embarrassed that he had spaced off. "We should get you to a hospital…" Kida mumbled after placing the knuckles of his fingers on Mikado's forehead.

"I have a friend coming over, he can look at you." Shizuo spoke up after a few moments of silence. Kida jumped slightly, forgetting that the other man was in the room. He spun sharply about to tell off the other man about inviting strangers over to Mikado's apartment when he realized exactly  _who_  he was about to yell at. Shizuo's eyes narrowed as he sensed the tension coming from the small blonde and his arms tightened around Izaya's shoulders.

"W-Why don't we calm down," Mikado chuckled nervously. Trying to keep his temper in check was proving to be difficult so Shizuo stood, carefully situated Izaya on the floor, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, and left.

"You're acting strange Kida-kun."

"No I'm not."

"…Then what would you call it?"

"I'm protecting you from getting attacked by one of these two!" Kida's voice was strained as he pointed to an unconscious Izaya.

"…Not that."

"What?"

"I didn't mean that. I meant…before when you…"

"…Oh." Kida's face turned red and he looked down, "I'm sorry."

"Why? Do you regret it?" Mikado asked his navy eyes trained on the top of Kida's bowed head.

"Regret it?"

"Yeah, do you? Because…" Mikado faltered and lost his nerve.

"I'm sorry…" Kida repeated, "I didn't want to mess up our friendship but I just-I can't…" Mikado took a breath and with a red face gathered his nerves again.

"Because…I don't." Kida's head snapped up.

"Huh?" Mikado smirked.

"I don't regret it…I kissed you back you know."

"Kida-ku~n I think that's your invitation to kiss him," Izaya's incredibly weak and slightly irritated voice sounded from his spot on the floor as he rubbed his forehead. Mikado's blush darkened and he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Kida suddenly irritated, grabbed Mikado's wrist and pulled him out of the sitting room and into the teen's small kitchen.

"K-Kida-kun?"

"He pisses me off…"

"He's hurt." Mikado defended.

"So…"

"I don't know what he did to you but…it doesn't seem like he's after you anymore."

"No he's not. He's after  _you_ , which is unforgivable," Kida said with a clenched fist.

"I can take care of myself," Mikado answered, "I promise I'll be okay."

"Just stay away from him."

"I-I can't."

"Yes you can!"

"No…that guy…from earlier…he said I needed to become friends with Orihara-san and Heiwajima-san…if I didn't…" Mikado's voice was just below a whisper.

"…I get it." Kida answered. Mikado shifted uncomfortably.

"…Um…" Kida lifted his eyes up to meet Mikado's shy ones. In an instant his normal persona was shining and a smirk graced Kida's tan face. He took a step closer to Mikado pressing their chests together.

"Yes, Mi-ka- _do_?" Mikado licked his dry lips and gripped the counter behind him. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it at the last second before looking down losing his nerve again. A warm finger curled under his chin and a slight pressure forced his head up. Kida chuckled as the blush dusting Mikado's cheeks darkened. As he moved closer to the black haired teen Kida found his own cheeks heating up. Mikado's eyelids fluttered and closed half way. His knuckles began to turn white from gripping the edge of the counter so tightly and his heart began to race as Kida inched closer once more. He swallowed thickly and watched Kida do the same. Kida's hot breath fanned across his face and his stomach began to flutter. Kida seemed to hesitate his fingers that were holding up Mikado's chin began to quiver and his golden eyes seemed to be asking if it was okay. Mikado pushed his chin forward connecting their lips and surprising the blonde. He watched as tanned lids covered the gold iris and let his own eye lids fall shut.

The quivering hand fell from Mikado's chin and went to his chest. The fingers clutched at his thin jacket as Kida moved closer to him. The quick lick at his lips didn't go unnoticed and Mikado parted them hesitantly. He inhaled sharply when the alien feeling of another person's tongue entered his mouth. Kida's other hand wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer yet. Mikado shivered as Kida expertly ran his tongue along a sensitive spot in his mouth, and then whimpered quietly as his air ran out. He pulled away panting allowing Kida to press their foreheads together.

"Well now don't stop on the account of me, I'm just the doctor." Mikado jumped and whacked his head against the handle on his cupboard deepening the wound he already had. He held the spot blinking away the tears of pain, " _Ow_."

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd react like that." The doctor apologized. Kida took Mikado's wrist and brought it away from the back of his head only to find that his fingers were now coated in a sticky red fluid. Shizuo leaned against the entryway into the kitchen watching the scene with mild amusement. They reminded him of when he and Izaya were just starting out. It seemed like Izaya was always getting hurt. He looked to the man who was now sleeping on the futon in the sitting room. Sighing, he looked back over to Shinra who was now unwrapping the black haired boys head to look at it. He had informed him of the blonde's neck but it seemed that the blonde had pulled his jacket up to cover most of it.

"Alright I'm going to put a couple stitches in, I'll numb you first." Shinra said as he pulled out a syringe. The kid stiffened as he felt the needle pierce his skin and his hands clenched into fists as the medication was forced in. After waiting a few moments Shinra poked the back of Mikado's head, "Feel that?"

"No."

"Good," With that Shinra began to stitch up the wound, "It's nothing too serious so you really only need two. I'll be back in a few weeks to take them out." He removed his latex gloves and bandaged the wound.

"Thank you," Mikado said while feeling the secure bandages, "Is my head supposed to feel so heavy?"

"That's just the numbing injection. Take it easy and lay down for a bit, it should subside." Mikado nodded softly and stood from the chair he was sitting on.

"Thank you," He said again.

"No problem," Shinra said with a smile, "Next." He pointed to Kida beckoned him to come closer with a wave of his finger.

"I'm not hurt." Kida crossed his arms as Mikado sat on the floor.

"I'm not blind kid, I can see the bruises." Shinra's eyes narrowed as Kida jerked his sweatshirt up.

"Why are you being stubborn Kida-kun?" Mikado asked, "Just go, it's not like I haven't seen it already." Kida flushed and looked to the ceiling. With a huff he removed his sweater and sat on the chair Shinra was standing behind.

"That's quite the bruise," Shinra commented.

"I'm fine…it'll go away." Kida mumbled.

"I see what you mean," Shinra said to Shizuo before turning back to Kida. "It's quite bad. If this swelling gets worse you'll have some issues with your breathing, I assume it's already causing discomfort."

"A little," Kida mumbled feeling oddly out of place. Shinra hummed thoughtfully as he looked the teen over once again. He gently placed his hands on either side of Kida's throat and gently pressed.

"Does that hurt?"

"Yeah," Kida's voice was strained. Shinra nodded as he lightened the pressure and moved on to a lower part.

"Well you're pretty lucky if there was any more pressure put on you, then your trachea would have faltered and I doubt you'd be alive right now." Mikado shifted uncomfortably. As much as he wanted to know if Kida was going to be okay, he needed to talk to Orihara-san to make sure they would keep meeting. He ducked his head so that Kida would think that the news of his throat was making him jittery but in actuality he was moving toward his gang persona. He left the room and lifted his head showing the cold steeled look his eyes were sporting. Shizuo watched the teen walk to Izaya's resting spot.

"Ahh did you come to kick me while I'm down?" Izaya asked with a lazy blink.

"Not quite," Mikado answered his voice firm.

"Ahh so we're in that kind of mood~"

"Please excuse the intrusion." Mikado said bringing a confused look to Izaya's eyes. It disappeared as Mikado reached into the fur trimmed jacket and pulled out the informant's cell phone.

"My, my you little liar, you  _are_  kicking me while I'm down." Mikado searched through the phones information and selected the "My phone number" section. He quickly added the information into his own cell phone and replaced the other's phone.

"Don't change your number or I'll be at  _your_  doorstep. We still need to have a talk but we obviously can't have it here."

"Obviously." Izaya repeated with a grin. Things were getting interesting and he wanted to know more about "Ryuugamine Mikado," both the gang side and the nervous teen side.

"Mikado?" Mikado's body jumped and the cool gaze fell away once more to be replaced by the nervous teen persona.

"Kida-kun! What did Kishitani-sensei say?"

"What are you doing?" He asked ignoring the question.

"N-Nothing," He stammered, "Are you feeling okay?" Kida gave Mikado a weary glare but his gaze shifted to Izaya who was trying to sit up. Mikado followed his gaze and helped the man to sit.

"Well now that we've made a pointless trip out here, we'll be going." Shizuo slung Izaya's arm around his shoulders and grabbed him around the waist and helped him stand.

"I don't think it was so pointless. Do you Mikado-kun?"

"Not at all." Kida looked worriedly between the two, "I'll be in touch," Mikado said this in a low voice so Kida wouldn't overhear. He tried to look like a gang leader when facing Izaya but like the high school student in front of Kida. However he only succeeded in looking like he was going to pass out due to the effects of the numbing shot.

"Ryuugamine-kun I think you should lay down for a little bit," Shinra said to the woozy teenager. Kida immediately took over and grabbed Mikado's hand and pulled him to the futon as Shizuo pulled Izaya in the direction of the door.

"See you~" Izaya said cheerfully as they left. Shinra sighed.

"I better make sure they get home okay…if you have any questions call me," Shinra gave Kida his business card, "Any friend of Shizuo and Izaya's are welcome to my services."

"We aren't-," Kida started but was interrupted by Mikado.

"Thanks." Shinra smiled and left the apartment as well as Kida fussed over Mikado, "Kida-kun, I'm fine."

"Just lay down, doctors orders alright." Mikado grinned and gathered some of his nerves before grabbing Kida's jacket front and pulling him down.

"Lay with me?" Mikado asked before placing a light, feathery kiss on Kida's lips. Kida grinned and ran his thumb over the blush on Mikado's cheeks.

"Of course." Kida straddled Mikado's waist and placed wet kisses down the teen's neck. Mikado shuddered as Kida's teeth sunk into his flesh and he gasped as shivers flew down his spine at the sudden suck on his neck. He felt the gentle curve of Kida's lips as the blonde smirked. Mikado's grip tightened on the fabric in his hands and he turned his head to the side allowing Kida more room. Mikado's head spun as Kida reacted to the extra space. The bites became nibbles which turned into licks that molded smoothly into sucking. Mikado's arms shook and he panted trying to hold himself together but Kida refused to have any of that so he ran his fingers over the other's chest earning a lovely gasp. With one final lick Kida sat back and admired the now red and purple mark as well as the flushed face of his best friend turned boyfriend.

"Don't tell me that was your first hickey?" The darkening blush told Kida all he needed to know, "Aw you're so fucking cute."

"Am I supposed to feel so dizzy?" Mikado asked breathlessly.

"Probably not, that might be more of whatever that doc put in ya," Kida answered while running his hand through the black locks, "You should go to sleep." Mikado glared at his best friend/boyfriend.

"How can I do that after what you just did?"

"Are you implying that you want more from me?"

"No! I'm just saying…I need a minute." Mikado looked away. Kida chuckled deep in his throat. He leaned down next to Mikado's ear and licked the shell of it causing a shiver to go down the other teens spine.

"You can let go of my sweater," Kida whispered in a husky tone. Mikado's blush darkened and he released the shirt like it was poison. Kida climbed off of the teen and was going to grab an extra pillow from the closet when he was stopped by Mikado's hand around his wrist.

"Kida-Kun…what exactly are we?" Kida cocked his head to the right.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think that we're just best friends anymore and I don't think I like the term friends with benefits…" Kida laughed again this time laughing so hard that he aggravated his throat again and started coughing. Mikado was about to sit up when Kida stopped him with a hand.

"You can call me your  _boyfriend_  Mikado." Mikado's blush returned and he nodded. Boyfriends it was. Kida tried to rise again but Mikado didn't relinquish his hold.

"Stay."

"I'm going to; I was going to get another pillow." Mikado merely scooted over so half of the pillow was available for another head. Kida rolled his eyes but he laid next to the black haired teen anyway. Mikado's eyes stared at his until the drug in his system really took effect and the navy seemed to slowly disappear behind flesh colored curtains. Kida placed a kiss on the slumbering boy's forehead and wrapped his arms around the slim waist and watched the snow fall outside the window. He silently vowed to protect the bundle in his arms with is life.

**Wow this one was a long one! Yes Mikado and Kida have a role to play in this fic…I'll get to in chapter five I think?**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Koibito~**


	4. Shirozake's Intentions

**Chapter 4**

**Shirozake's Intentions**

"How are you feeling?" Shizuo asked as Izaya sipped on his hot chocolate.

"Better."

"You look better too, you skin isn't so sickly anymore."

"Well thank you Shizu-chan," Izaya said sarcastically.

"You know what I meant."

"…Are you working tomorrow?"

"No, I told Tom I was taking some time off," Shizuo answered while he ran his fingers through Izaya's hair. Izaya placed his drink off to the side wincing when he pulled his arm too far.

"Ahh," he hissed in pain.

"Shit I'm sorry Izaya I forgot your damn medicine. Hang on." Shizuo ran off to grab the bag he was sent home with.

"I'll do it Shizu-chan."

"No it's okay I'm supposed to do it, you'll stretch everything in all the wrong ways."

"Are you telling me you're going to stretch me in the right ways?" Izaya wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Shizuo glared slightly and uncapped the needle. A nervous look settled into Izaya's eye.

"Relax and it won't fucking hurt."

"Relax? How can I relax when you don't know what to do with that thing?"

"I've done it before!"

"Once!"

"Hold still." Shizuo forced Izaya's pants down and exposed his flesh. He plunged the needle into Izaya's rear and pushed the plunger down after realizing that he had actually hit the right spot.

"Ouch! Fuck Shizuo!"

"Calm down you're fucking fine." Shizuo answered with a swift smack to the already abused area. This action earned a lovely yelp and a glare as Izaya pulled his pants and boxers back up.

"You are such a brute." Shizuo gripped Izaya's chin and turned his head so that he was looking straight into chocolate eyes.

"You love it." Shizuo kissed the smaller man deeply.

"Apology accepted." Izaya mumbled slightly out of breath. Shizuo chuckled and kissed him again. His hand slid to cup the side of Izaya's cheek as he pressed the 23 year old onto the couch so he was lying underneath the blonde. Izaya curled an arm around the 24 year olds neck and parted his lips. Instantly the taste of cigarettes and chocolate filled his mouth. Izaya responded by teasingly scraping his teeth along the wet muscle and giving a very slight suck. Shizuo responded by ending the kiss with a light bite on Izaya's lower lip. He trailed hot, wet kisses down the informants jaw and lightly bit his way down the pale neck and ended by swirling his tongue around Izaya's Adams apple and sucking on it until a low groan was given in reward. He trailed up the other side of the long neck and bit down hard earning a gasp and two hands in his hair. He created a line of hickeys until he reached the mouth again. He planted a kiss on the informant's pink lips and it was broken shortly after by the informant who turned his head away from the blonde to cough and for his trembling right arm to drop back down to the couch where Izaya placed his left hand over the shoulder trying to ignore the pain.

"Fuck, shit Izaya, damn it I'm sorry," Shizuo muttered with a racing heart. He just didn't think sometimes. It had been so long since he had been able to be with Izaya and he couldn't resist the temptation that was Orihara Izaya.

"I'm  _fine_  Shizu-chan." Izaya sounded annoyed as his red eyes burned into Shizuo's warm brown ones.

"You don't sound very convincing coughing like that," Shizuo said as Izaya coughed again. He placed the backside of his fingers against Izaya's forehead, "You want some water?"

"No." Izaya grabbed Shizuo's arm so he wouldn't leave, "I want  _you_." Shizuo grinned and placed a kiss on the fever stricken forehead.

"And I appreciate that but we can't, not when you're like this."

"Like what? Don't you  _dare_  start insinuating that I'm going to be some sort of feeble child who can't handle a little time with his fucking boyfriend." Shizuo sighed knowing Izaya was pissed with him. They were both clearly missing the feel of each other all together but for once in his life Shizuo needed to say no to the animal inside of him. That animal was telling him to just take Izaya right there on the couch, fuck everything else.

"I'm not calling you weak Izaya. I just don't think it's a good idea that we get carried away. You aren't weak. You're hurt and there is a major difference there. You were shot a little under 30 hours ago. You should still be with Shinra to make sure that nothing happens but I wanted you home."

"You don't think it's a good idea? That's a lie."

"What makes you say that?" Shizuo asked a little confused. Izaya lifted a knee and rolled it against Shizuo's obvious arousal.

"You're totally into this," Izaya said as Shizuo released a shuddering breath.

"Izaya stop." Izaya was about to say no when he was taken over by another round of coughing, "See that's the only reason I say stop. You're 23 years old, you can hold yourself back."

"No Shizuo. I'm forever 21. I'm in the prime of my youth and there is nothing I can do to "hold myself back," I'm far too young." Shiuzo rolled his eyes. They had celebrated the informants  _third_  21st birthday in May via skype, but Shizuo wouldn't let the informant forget his  _real_  age. However there were times that playing along with his "young" age had its perks.

"Then because you are so young I, as a 24 year old, know when to stop and that is right. now." Shizuo ran a hand through the short hairs on Izaya's head, "Sorry babe." Izaya instantly flushed at the name.

"Whatever, I have work to do anyway. I'm falling behind again," Izaya mumbled, "Shiki-san will want some information and I'll be asking for some in return." Shizuo sighed as he ran a hand through his own hair. There were too many battles to fight and getting the informant to bed wasn't at the top of the list, getting some food in him however, was.

"You have until I'm finished cooking dinner." Shizuo placed a quick peck on Izaya's cheek and went to the kitchen to find that there was still no food in the fridge. Shizuo sighed and scratched the back of his head. Looked like it was going to be take-out, "Oi you still haven't shopped! I'm going to order in what do you want?"

"Anything's fine," Izaya answered while booting up his computers. Shizuo shrugged and ordered Chinese. Izaya might kill him for it but he hadn't had the stuff in ages. A steady clacking filled the room as Shizuo placed the order. He hung up after paying with one of Izaya's cards. The clicks and clacks stopped for a moment and coughing filled its place. Shizuo frowned and looked around the corner of the kitchen to see Izaya rubbing his chest then he started to type again. With hesitant fingers Shizuo dialed for Shinra.

"Hello?"

"Hey Shinra…its Shizuo." Shizuo spoke in a voice that was just above a whisper so that Izaya wouldn't know who he was talking to.

"Is something wrong?" Shinra immediately took his whispered voice the wrong way.

"Well no…well…yes? I don't know that's why I'm calling."

"What happened?"

"Izaya's been coughing a lot more and they're wet sounding coughs. He's also been running a pretty high fever."

"It's just because he was out in the cold for so long. He's going to have a bit of a cold."

"Right…okay."

"I promise he'll be fine, just keep him stress free and lots of liquids."

"Stress free? Easier said than done. I try to keep him off those damn computers but it stresses him out that work is piling up…then I let him on and he's stressed with what he has to accomplish." Shizuo sighed into the phone and leaned against the counter.

"Well at this point I'd say that you limit his time."

"I know but I'm his boyfriend not his mother."

"…Hmm Okay then, doctors orders, he can only be on the computer for an hour at a time. I'll leave it to you to enforce it." Shizuo could hear the smile in Shinra's voice.

"Okay thanks Shinra."

"Anytime…and Shizuo."

"Yeah?"

"Sorry."

"Nah you had all the rights to be upset…we should have told you earlier. I'm sorry." Shinra laughed.

"Well I'm glad it's you I'm talking to, I don't think Izaya would have caved that easily." Shizuo laughed and nodded even though Shinra wouldn't be able to see it.

"Well I'll call you if we need you…"

"I'll be here."

"Thanks."

"Mmhum. Bye."

"Bye." Shizuo hung up and sighed.

"Who was that? Shinra?" Izaya asked from his office.

"Yeah…Hey how did you know?"

"I didn't think there was anyone else that you'd talk to like that. What'd he say?"

"You can only be on your computers for an hour." Shizuo heard a pause in the typing then it resumed.

"We'll see about that." Two hours later the Chinese was cold and Izaya was still on the computers.

"I'm serious Izaya. Off."

"This is important work Shizu-chan. Shiki-san needs this information and I'll be able to get some information from him about those two ex-Yakuza's." Shizuo sighed, he really did want the information on the members but he knew Izaya needed to eat and then sleep. He went with his preferred plan of covering Izaya's eyes, instead of threatening the safety of the main power cord. He wanted Izaya to eat and take care of himself, not be pissed the rest of the night and into tomorrow. Izaya sighed, "Shizu-Chan I'm trying to work."

"I know. Time to eat." Izaya frowned as he placed his hands back on the keyboard and quickly located the home row by the raised marks on the F and J keys. He began typing once more. Shizuo grabbed both of Izaya's wrists and forced them into the informants lap, "Easy way, or the hard way?" Shiuzo offered him one last chance.

"Shizuo. This is important. I don't have the luxury to just walk away when I want to. There are very demanding people in this world and I have to satisfy them with information. It's only fair, they give me money and I provide information."

"Work later. Tell them something came up." Izaya placed his hand over Shizuo's and brought the hand away from his eyes so he could look at the taller male.

"Once again it's not that simple. I've got deadlines to fill and most of them are by tonight. I may be my own boss but I still have to get information out or pay the consequences."

"I won't let anyone hurt you," Shizuo said with a hard voice and concerned eyes. Izaya managed a smile and ignored the beeping of two of the IM's he had up on different monitors.

"That's not quite the repercussions I meant but the thought is sweet. The point is I have work to do and I have to get it done. I know you and Shinra both are trying to look out for me but I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"Then how about a break for food?" Shizuo asked persistently. Izaya sighed and looked over the work he had left.

"Yeah, alright. Just a small one though," Izaya said as he quickly typed away on his chats and other sites, "Let me make a quick distraction for these people." Shiuzo placed his hand under Izaya's chin and pushed until Izaya was looking straight at him.

"Thanks." Shizuo kissed him and released him back to work. Izaya nodded and continued typing.

_Thisismenotknowingwhattodofo rallinebreakthatsuggestsacha ngeinscene…._

Taihou paced back and forth in his inner chambers. Shirozake was supposedly trying to  _help_  him by eliminating Orihara. Yet why would Shirozake offer something like this in front of him instead of just going ahead with his own plans. Taihou knew it was not because of his leadership of the gang that made Shiro want to get his approval. He made that clear enough when he made a fool of Taihou in front of his men. He clutched the picture of Orihara and Heiwajima in his hand. Shirozake had dropped it off to him moments ago as proof that Orihara was indeed alive. Time however was on their side if they acted quickly. As soon as Orihara was out of the house they would strike and go for the kill. They would not give him a chance to retaliate and they would not allow him to run. It would be a very quick kill and they would take his body to ensure that he was indeed dead.

This however brought up the problem of Heiwajima. They couldn't take him on individually and their chance of attacking as a group was raised slightly but not very significantly. Perhaps Shirozake wanted to use his group of men to distract Heiwajima and possibly overwhelm him with men so that he couldn't protect Orihara. This would create an opening for Shirozake to strike. It would have to be a pretty good kill shot or Heiwajima wouldn't hesitate in ripping Shirozake to shreds…which might not be such a bad plan. Taihou didn't intend on keeping Shirozake around after Orihara was killed, he would of course send his men after the traitor and have him shot down…perhaps his head would be necessary too so he didn't pull an Orihara. Taihou sighed and sat gracefully in his chair and sipped his wine. Things were becoming very complicated very quickly. Though all of this ran through his mind the one thing that constantly returned was the fact that Shiro hadn't asked for anything but his men's work. That was just strange and struck a wrong cord in Taihou's body. He grit his teeth as he tried to get inside of Shirozake's mind. At that moment however Shirozake came waltzing through his door, the guard outside of the door looked quite unsure of what he should do and Taihou made a mental note to let him go.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Taihou's steady voice betrayed the rage behind his eyes.

"You've actually done quite a bit for me," Shirozake said as he plucked a grape from Taihou's plate and ate it, "You make it quite hard for them to track me."

"You are using me to cover yourself?"

"Yes." The man didn't even try to hide it, "By hiding out here and pretending to be one of yours it's much harder to track me."

"So this was your plan all along? To use my men and my resources to your benefit?"

"Well it became that way only because your precious men failed to kill Orihara." He ate another grape.

"What do you plan to do after you kill Orihara? You haven't exactly covered your tracks against those teenage boys. They know who you are." Taihou was simply curious. He wanted to know how Shirozake thought he would get away.

"After I kill him? You make it sound like such a quick and simple ordeal. No. I want him to  _suffer_ , and suffer he will."

"You plan to torture him?"

"Just as he did my sister." Taihou's eyebrow rose, he wasn't against this torturing of Orihara but he didn't want it near any of his facilities. He was probably already on a list of people to watch out for. He had made it known after his wife's death that Orihara was going to pay.

"Where do you plan to do this? I'm not going to house your little game."

"…Of course not. I have a place in mind."

"Very well then," Taihou just had one more question, "What is the point in bringing in the two high school students?" They seemed to be a useless part of Shirozake's equation. Shirozake grinned widely and chuckled.

"Have you noticed that Orihara doesn't have any close friends?"

"…A part of his job I believe."

"Oh contraire, Orihara tends to become very attached to those he cares about."

"You're hoping that he'll befriend the two boys? What will you do then?" Taihou asked not really understanding where Shirozake was coming from.

"That will come in due time dear Taihou."

**Ugh evil people are so not my forte. I need to work on their characterization a bit ne~**

**Well as always thanks for reading,**

**Koibito~**


	5. Shizuo's Animal

**Chapter 5**

**Shizuo's Animal**

"Shit." Shizuo looked up from his spot on the couch upon hearing the curse word from Izaya who was, of course, working. The brunette had a deep frown on his face and looked worried. Concerned, Shizuo stood and walked to stand behind the informant so he could try and see what was causing the strange reaction.

"What's wrong?" Izaya didn't even flinch.

"We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Shizuo asked as the butterflies took flight in his stomach.

"The man that put the hit on me, he has been burned."

"What does that even mean?"

"A burn notice? Everything about him has been erased from all files all computers and all employees are strictly forbidden from speaking of them."

"Do you know who it is? A name or anything?"

"…That's the problem…Do you remember the reason I wanted us to stay so far apart and to make ourselves declared public enemy's?"

"If we didn't then someone would have targeted me to get to you or vise versa. By making ourselves public enemy's we were able to check on each other's health by fighting with each other. If one of us didn't show we'd know something was wrong…right?" Shizuo scratched the back of his head not really seeing where this was going.

"Well I suppose I should rephrase my question. Do you remember the individual I was worried about?" Shizuo thought hard but no name came up, he shook his head.

"Does the name Taihou Kimi ring a bell?" Then it clicked in Shizuo's head.

"The guy who's wife died?"

"He thinks I was at fault for her death…"

"No way, you were with me the whole night! I remember giving our alibi to the cops!" Izaya shook his head.

"I didn't have to physically do it for him to think that, it could have been anything I said that set her off. It wasn't public but she wasn't exactly mentally sane."

"She was one of your clients right?" Izaya nodded.

"She wanted me to dig up some information on Taihou himself, she suspected an affair."

"I'm sure you weren't exactly kind when you told her there was one."

"I was straight with her," Izaya defended, "I wasn't going to sugar coat it for her."

"So she killed herself?"

"Yep."

"Now this fucker is out for revenge? Where is he?"

"Hang on Shizu-chan," Izaya grabbed Shizuo's sleeve to prevent him from leaving, "Taihou is the leader of a big gang full of ex-yakuza that managed to escape Shiki-san's gang. Rushing into wherever he is would be stupid. Not to mention he's been burned so right now all of Tokyo thinks he's dead."

"So all we have to do is get him and you'll be okay?" Shizuo's warm eyes were full of concern and Izaya took a breath preparing himself for the next bout of information that he was going to give.

"Not exactly…"

"What else is there?"

"…"

"Izaya…" Shizuo warned. Izaya looked up at Shizuo his eyes watery and his chin trembling, "…Izaya?" Shizuo's tone became worried and he took the smaller man in his arms, "What's wrong?"

"…His wife…was best friends with Umei Shirozake."

"Wait…that girl that you tried to save?"

"She was my friend for a long time…"

"I know. You told me that she took the death hard and went to you for comfort…"

"She found out that what I had told Taihou's wife had been one of the major factors in her death…"

"How would she know that?"

"She took the suicide note…"

"The police said there wasn't one."

"She didn't want such a respectable woman to be remembered for suicide."

"What did she do when she found out it was you?"

"She confessed…"

"Confessed what?"

"…That she loved me." Izaya looked up with such unbearably sad eyes that Shizuo realized how much she meant to Izaya.

"You…loved her?" His stomach sank and he couldn't keep the sorrow from his own eyes. His heart felt as if it were going to split with each beat. He felt like he was going to throw up, he had loved Izaya for so many years and it had only been half returned to him?

"No!" Izaya grabbed for Shizuo's hands and clutched them in his own, "She was my best friend…my only friend Shizu-chan…I had you but…it's like you and Celty. You know? You're best friends but you still have me!"

"It's okay…don't panic I understand." Shizuo soothed, and he did. If anything had happened that Shizuo wanted advice on the first person he'd go to would be Celty, then he would talk to Izaya.

"I love  _you_! I've always loved you." Izaya still seemed to think Shizuo was hurt because he was standing now, still clutching Shizuo's hands and hiccupping to keep himself from actually sobbing. Shizuo blinked in shock, he had never heard Izaya say those words before. He wasn't sure what to say, he couldn't say them back…it was so sudden.

"…" Shizuo just stood there with his mouth slightly ajar.

" _Shizuo!_ " Izaya was begging now and the tears fell from his eyes. Shizuo pulled himself together as another tear fell followed quickly by another. He used the pad of his thumb to wipe underneath the red eyes and the palm of his hand to clear the pale cheek. Shizuo gave the smaller male a dopey grin.

"That's the first time you've said it…" Izaya blinked and his hand trembled. He dropped Shizuo's hand and wrapped his arms around Shizuo tightly his face red.

"I'm saying it because it's  _true_." Shizuo could hear the unspoken words that Izaya was trying to tell him,  _"Just don't be mad_." The hiccupping was starting to get worse and Shizuo hugged him back tightly as Izaya's legs began to tremble.

"Hey," Shizuo spoke softly, "Listen…I'm always here for you too. I'm not mad Izaya. I understand, you did what you had to." Izaya took in shuddery breaths as they both sunk to the floor.

"I love you, I love you so much." Izaya gasped now on his knees.

"I love you." The words were unfamiliar and strange on Shizuo's lips but they left a pleasant taste in his mouth. They sat on the ground for a few moments locked in embrace until Izaya started to wiggle.

"Shizu-chan…it hurts." Instantly Shizuo relaxed his grip which had been getting steadily stronger.

"Sorry…I didn't open a wound did I?" Izaya shook his head against Shizuo's chest. Shizuo looped a finger underneath Izaya's chin and pulled his head up.

"'M okay…really."

"I really do…love you." Shizuo said as the butterflies became restless in his stomach. Izaya blinked in surprise again and Shizuo couldn't resist kissing him. Izaya's trembling hands found their way into Shizuo's hair and he kissed the older man back just as passionately. Izaya's intoxicating smell filled Shizuo's nose and the feel of the slim body beneath his hands brought out the animal in him. He moved his lips from Izaya's to the long, pale neck and bit it as he lowered the man to the ground.

"Ah…S-Shizu-Chan…I don't think right here is the best pl-place." Izaya twisted his hips underneath the larger man as the pleasure tingled down his spine and into his toes.

"Just relax." Shizuo's voice was deep and smooth and Izaya's internal alert system went off immediately. He was in trouble now, Shizuo only got this persistent when, what Izaya labeled as 'the animal' came out to play. Shizuo had only lost himself a few times around Izaya, mostly when he was angry, but when sexual tension was high Shizuo was known to lose the battle to his instincts.

"S-Shizu- _Chan_  you'll hurt me," Izaya gasped the last syllables because Shizuo had just moved his hand under the other's shirt. The blonde chuckled almost darkly and licked his lips.

"Sensitive today, aren't you?" Izaya gasped and arched his back in a semi-loud moan as his nipple was rolled between expert fingers. The black V-neck shirt that Izaya was wearing was quickly removed and tossed across the room. Shizuo descended upon the pale chest, licking and sucking where Izaya was most sensitive.

" _Nnugh_  Shizu-c-chan… _ahh_  Sto-Stop…"

"No." Izaya's heart beat picked up and he couldn't help but be turned on even more by the dominating tone. Izaya lifted his head to look, with glassy, red eyes, into Shizuo's dark ones. Shizuo licked his lips and grasped the back of Izaya's head by the hair and  _tugged_. Izaya let out a loud involuntary moan as his neck was attacked at the same time as the left nipple. Shizuo moved to nip and lick at the smooth collar bone as his hand skimmed across gooseflesh skin then disappeared into the black pants.

" _Haaahaa nnnugh._ " Izaya ground his hips into the large hand as his body went numb with pleasure.

"You're all wet Izaya," Shizuo teased then marked another spot on Izaya's shoulder with his teeth, "I'm going to make sure everyone knows your mine."

"Shi-Shizu-chan…" Izaya moaned as his body shivered in ecstasy. Shizuo licked the shell of his ear and took the lobe between his teeth.

"Yes?"

" _Nngh,_  hurry up." Izaya wrapped his arms around Shizuo's neck and bucked his hips ignoring the brief pain it caused in both his shoulder and stomach. Shizuo gave a wolfish grin and ripped the jeans from the younger male.

"Ahh, you've ruined your boxers, look they're all wet." Izaya removed his hands from around Shizuo's neck so he could prop himself up to glare at the other man.

"Stop making embarrassing comments." Izaya demanded with a bright, red face. Shizuo licked the wettest part of the boxers earning a lovely surprised sound that seemed to be mixed with a moan of pleasure.

"I'll stop if you quit being so fucking adorable," Shizuo answered before he sealed his lips over the front of the bulge in the boxers. Izaya bit his lip to keep from crying out. His arms trembled from holding him up and he let himself fall backward as the sound of Shizuo's slurping and his own moaning filled the room. Izaya's fingers clenched around Shizuo's hair and his hips bucked upwards begging for more contact. Shizuo frowned and held the slim hips down so he could continue the torturous pressure and pace.

" _Nnggghh, aahh_  more…Shi-Shizu…more…" Full sentences seemed to be out of Izaya's ability. Shizuo gently scrapped his teeth against the bulge before his kissed the warm forehead of the informant and ripped the boxers clean off of Izaya. Shizuo admired the panting, blushing, and  _wet_  man beneath him for a moment before he reached into the bottom drawer on Izaya's desk and snatched the bottle planted there, "…when…when did you…" Izaya's brow furled in confusion he hadn't kept lube in that drawer for years.

"Yesterday." Shizuo answered as he popped the cap off and applied a generous amount to both of his hands spreading it like lotion. He thrust one slippery finger inside the puckered hole at the same time that he firmly grabbed the erect member. This action earned a yelp of pleasure and bucked hips. The wince of pain was missed by Shizuo. Instead he added the second finger as he started pumping his hand up and down the long shaft. Izaya withered and moaned as sweat gathered on his forehead. At three fingers he winced and wiggled trying to find comfort aggravating his stomach wound. Shizuo gripped firmer and pumped faster as his fingers stretched and searched. His fingers had only brushed against the bundle of nerves when Izaya screamed and the flesh around Shizuo's fingers began to spasm and tighten before the jet of white seed poured out. Shizuo took that time of euphoria to add in the fourth finger and stretch the younger as well as he could. Effortlessly Shizuo removed his own pants with one hand and slid his own boxers down his agile hips.

"Ready?" Shizuo asked huskily as he removed his fingers and applied the lube to himself.

"W-wait….Shizu-chan wait…just a minute." Izaya panted. The animal in Shizuo growled and took the lead plunging fully into Izaya who let out a silent scream of mixed pain and pleasure. Izaya's slim, right leg was grabbed and thrown over Shizuo's shoulder as he mercilessly pounded in and out of the informant.

" _Nngh…_ " Izaya adjusted fairly quickly and with only a slight twinge in his abdomen he met Shizuo's thrusts while wrapping his arms around the blonde for better support. The animal picked up pace and depth as this was seen as an invitation. In too much pleasure to do much other than moan Izaya's finger's clenched into Shizuo's back and scraped forward creating long, red irritants. Shizuo roughly pulled Izaya's head back by the hair so he could bite into the pale flesh, this time drawing blood, marking him once more. Izaya yelped at the sudden pain but it was quickly overridden with the pleasure that Shizuo's rough treatment was providing. Loud moans spilled from both men and Izaya could feel his second climax coming quickly.

"Not yet." Shizuo ordered sensing the incoming release, "Don't cum yet. Hold it." Izaya whined but did as he was told, this Shizuo only wanted complete dominance and Izaya wasn't sure if Shizuo would be able to regain control quickly enough to stop himself from hurting Izaya if he didn't do as he was told. A few more rough pounds had Izaya at his breaking point.

" _Ahh, Nuughh_  Shi-Shizu-chan…please…I need to.. _ahh_. Shizu-chan please…" Izaya begged breathlessly. Shizuo released the hair in his right hand and instead grabbed Izaya's throbbing cock.

"Hold it." It was torturous, Izaya decided, to be pumped so slowly and to have to hold himself back. Izaya gasped and threw his head in towards Shizuo's sweaty chest. The pleasure was building so greatly he wasn't sure he was going to hold up. Shizuo shifted his angle and Izaya moaned helplessly as sweat dripped from both of their faces.

" _Shizu-Chan…_  Please! I need to cum…I need. It." Izaya gasped as Shizuo repeatedly slammed into his prostate.

"Okay." With a breathy moan that may or may not have contained part of Shizuo's name in it escaped Izaya's lips as he came over Shizuo's shirt at the same time that Shizuo filled him with a grunt. Shizuo licked the spilled cum off of Izaya's chest as the younger twitched and withered with pleasure. Shizuo wiped his fingers over his ruined shirt and swirled them into Izaya's hot mouth. The fingers were licked clean and Shizuo kissed the younger passionately before pulling out of him. Izaya attempted to sit up but was stopped by the pain in his stomach. With nothing else to distract him from the pain, Izaya froze and slowly laid back on the ground, his right leg still over Shizuo's shoulder. The look of pain killed off the animal that had come out and Shizuo was back to his 'normal' self.

"Shit…Shit damn it Izaya I'm so fucking sorry." Izaya shook his head and cupped the side of Shizuo's face unable to hide the look of pain in his eyes.

"I understand…besides if I really didn't want it I could have fought back you know."

"Not very well," Shizuo pouted as he removed his ruined shirt. Izaya sighed and cupped the elder man's cheek.

"I still could have."

**Hmm I think I will end this chapter here for lack of ideas. I will be back with another chapter later but I have to keep working on problematic Teens too.**

**Thanks for reading,**

**Koibito~**


	6. 'Bukuro's Most Dangerous

# Chapter 6

**'Bukuro's Most Dangerous**

****I just wanted to apologize for the lateness in this chapter but I feel that the quality of these chapters has been decreasing. I took some time to look through this but I know there's still going to be mistakes. I'm going to see about getting a beta but no promises.** **

 

            With a heavy swallow and nervous fingers Kida carefully checked the small sitting room to make sure he was alone before he removed a book from his bookshelf in his apartment.  He opened the cover and flipped past the first ten pages, the rest had been cut out into the shape of a large rectangle.  With trembling fingers he touched the smooth metal of the gun tucked into the crudely cut crevice.  He hadn’t carried the weapon for years.  The feel of it tucked into the waistband of his jeans and the heavy metal made his skin break out into gooseflesh and his stomach churn with sickness.  Sighing he plopped down on a chair with the book on his lap.

            Shirozake was right, it was obvious that Kida no longer carried a weapon on him and now that he had taken the position back as the Yellow Scarves leader he was practically defenseless.  It was way too easy for Shirozake to overtake him and to get him to agree to his proposition.  He was also so weak that he was unable to protect Mikado, the precious being that was sleeping on his couch at that moment.  His fist clenched in anger and self-disappointment.  He was so useless; he couldn’t even protect the one person he had spent so long trying to save.  Mikado was such an innocent teenager and Kida had to go and drag him into the mud. 

            “Damn it.”  The words were hissed between teeth and Kida clenched a fist so hard it drew blood.    He closed the book unable to pick up the gun, and placed it with the other books.  Feeling utterly sick, Kida picked up the knife from inside his desk drawer and shoved it in his back pocket.  He _hated_ feeling like Orihara but he had learned from watching the man, about knives anyway.  He had gotten pretty good at it and had even taken the man by surprise when he pulled it out when he was younger.  After he had learned the truth though, he had abandoned the knife in the desk drawer.  He would sharpen it later because Mikado would be waking up soon.  He refused to bring Mikado in any further than he already was.  

            Sighing Kida cleaned the blood from his hand and snatched a band-aid from the bathroom cabinet.  He then grabbed his school uniform from the couch and put it on. Using the windows in the living room, he made sure his hair was acceptable then, after brushing it back with his fingers twice, he started breakfast for two.  He was hoping that by having Mikado stay the night at his place for a while, Shirozake would leave the kid alone.  He leaned against the counter as the bread warmed up in the toaster. 

            “Kida-kun?”  Mikado’s sleepy voice projected from the other side of the room.

            “In the kitchen,” Kida called back.  It had taken a bit of pressing from him but Mikado had finally relented and allowed Kida to take him back to his apartment.  Mikado was sleepily rubbing at an eye as he stumbled into the kitchen making Kida smile warmly at the site, “So cute,” he said quietly.  Mikado must have heard because he began to blush and he dropped his arm to his side. 

            “S-So what’s for breakfast?” 

            “Toast,” Kida answered as he snagged the toast just as it popped out of the toaster, “I’d offer more but we’re running a little short on time.”  Mikado’s eyes glanced to the clock and they widened almost comically as his jaw dropped.

            “ _Kida_ -Kun!  We’re already an hour _late_!”  Mikado raced from the small kitchen and into the bedroom where his uniform was.  He quickly put it on, becoming frustrated when he buttoned the under shirt incorrectly and had to redo it.  He ran a comb through his hair and was in the middle of brushing his teeth when Kida came in with the toast nicely buttered.

            “Chill Mikado, we’re late anyway so take your time,” Kida said around a mouthful of crunchy bread and butter.  The glare that Mikado threw Kida made the elder laugh and clutch at his stomach, “you haven’t given me that look in a long time!” 

                        “You should have woken me up two hours ago Kida-kun!”  Mikado sounded highly distressed, “I hate being late.” He rinsed his mouth and placed his toothbrush next to Kida’s on the shelf as the blonde licked his thumb, finishing the slice of toast.

            “Hey,” Kida’s voice deepened and became softer, “it’s okay.  You needed that rest anyway.”  He grabbed Mikado’s hand and offered a soft smile.  Mikado frowned and raised a hand to brush at Kida’s face.

            “You think you look attractive right now but you’ve got bread crumbs and butter all over your face.”  Kida blushed and tried to wipe at his own face but Mikado’s thumb was already covering the area.  The younger boy sighed as he let his hand fall back to his side, “I guess you’re right…I’m just stressed out.”    Kida’s blush disappeared just as quickly as it appeared and he cupped the back of Mikado’s head and pushed the anxious teens face to his shoulder. 

            “It’ll be okay.  I swear I’ll get us out of this mess.”  Mikado shuddered lightly and gripped at the lapels on Kida’s jacket.

            “You don’t have to do it alone,” Mikado said softly, his voice slightly muffled from speaking into the school uniform fabric.  Kida stiffened and moved his hands to cup Mikado’s face and tilt the boys chin up with the heels of his hands.

            “Listen to me.  You’re not going to get dragged into this anymore than you have to.  You’re just being used to get me to do something!”

            “Kida-kun…”

            “No listen.  I’m _not_ going to let that dirt bag lay a hand on you!  Shirozake _knows_ that if he didn’t have anything to hold against me, like _you_ , then I wouldn’t be doing anything for him!”

            “Kida-kun I-“

            “I _won’t_ let anything happen to you Mikado!  I swear I will protect you.”

            “Masaomi!”  The usage of Kida’s first name stopped him from repeating himself again, “If that’s the case then it’s my fault for being a liability.  I’ll get you out of this mess okay.”  Kida sputtered for a moment then shook his head.

            “That was _not_ what you were supposed to take away from all of that!  None of this is your fault and don’t you dare say it is!”

            “Then none of this is your fault either.”

            “…”  Kida looked at the ground for a moment and his hands dropped to the ground, “Mikado…there’s something that you don’t know about me…”

            “And there are loads of things you don’t know about me.”  Mikado countered while touching his finger to Kida’s hand.  Kida’s golden eyes struggled to rise to meet Mikado’s blue ones.  The faux blonde knew he had to say something to Mikado…tell him _why_ he knew who Shirozake was and _why_ he had failed to keep in good terms with the man.  And it was far more than just costing the man his finger…he had taken his family.  But in order to do any of that…he had to tell Mikado his identity as the leader of the Yellow Scarves, a _gang_ …a thing that he had _specifically_ told Mikado to stay away from.

            “Mikado…I…I need to tell you…”  He couldn’t bring his eyes up to meet the navy ones, “I..um..I need to tell you that…”  Kida was stopped by a hesitant pair of lips that covered his own.

            “You don’t need to tell me anything until you’re sure.”

            “I am sure!”  Kida said his eyes snapping up to the face of the lightly blushing student.  Mikado shook his head.

            “You aren’t…someday though we’ll be able to share all of our secrets.  I don’t think it’ll be today.”  Mikado shyly cupped the side of Kida’s face and then tilted his own head to the side looking awfully adorable to the blonde, “Kay!”  He said sounding more like there was nothing else to be said on the subject.  A slow smile broke out over Kida’s face and he covered the pale hand on his cheek with his own.

            “Okay.” 

            “Good, now if we hurry we can make it to lunch on time!  Sonohara-san is probably wondering where we are!”  Mikado snagged Kida’s wrist and pulled him in the direction of the small step up area for their shoes.  Kida gripped the smaller teens wrist and changed their direction for the kitchen.

            “Don’t forget that I made you breakfast and our bento’s are still in the fridge.  I also need to grab my bag…”  Kida said with his exuberant energy surrounding him, making his words seem like they were the most exciting plans in the world.  Mikado chuckled and allowed himself to be tugged around the apartment three times before he forced Kida towards the door.  One train and a twenty minute walk later they arrived just as the bell for lunch rang.  The large gates on the campus were of course, already closed so they hopped over them with some difficulty and were soon on the roof for lunch.

            “Kida-kun!  What happened to your neck?!” 

            “Ahh, nothing, nothing to be worried about Anri-chan~”  Kida did a small dance around his spot on the bench before sitting close to Mikado and pulling out his bento.

            “It looks so painful!” The girl exclaimed with a slightly worried look on her normally expressionless face. 

            “Not at all.  Now Mikado!” Kida turned to the boy who was pulling out his own bento, “I made it with my own two hands!  That is not only the labor of my friendship but the labor of my _love_!  So you have to honestly let me know what you think of my awesome cooking!”  Anri grinned into her sandwich, Kida seemed to be acting normally so perhaps it really was okay.  She wiggled her legs to be in the center of the small blanket she had brought to protect her from the snow.  It seemed that no matter the weather they always came to the roof for lunch. 

            “…A labor of your love?”

            “Yes!  Now try it~” The blonde anxiously awaited the reaction as Mikado pulled the chopsticks from their holder and tried some of the food.  Instantly his face tightened and he nearly spat the food back out, “Well~?”

            “It’s terrible,” Mikado said with a slight cough.

            “So mean!”  Kida clutched at his chest, “My heart!  Mikado you’ve killed it with your cruel words!”  Mikado rolled his eyes. 

            “Really Kida-kun where did you learn to cook?” Mikado asked as he wiped his face with a napkin.  Kida gripped his clothing and pressed the back of his hand to his forehead.

            “Oh! I’m going to faint!  Your words, they hurt me Mikado-kun!”  Kida cried.  The blonde fell backwards and laid across the ground pitifully moaning in emotional pain while shivering in the snow.  With a sigh Mikado picked up some of the noodles with his chopsticks and plopped the noodles into Kida’s open mouth.  The blonde sat up sputtering and spitting.

            “Well what do you think?” Mikado asked cutely as Anri bit into her own food with a grin.

            “Now you’ve tried to poison me!  Oh Mikado where did I go wrong?”

            “I don’t know; let me see that recipe and I’ll let you know what was completely wrong with it.”  Mikado answered. 

            “Recipe?  Oh no I just added the things that smelled good!” 

            “Yeah, that’s where you went wrong.” Mikado grinned as he offered a hand to help Kida up.  Kida grinned and Mikado figured out what the blonde was going to do half a second late.  He was snagged by the wrist and pulled down to the cement where he was pinned underneath the blonde.  The snow started to melt underneath him and seep into his clothing. 

            “Now what, Mi-ka-do~?” Kida grinned as he pinned Mikado’s hands to the ground.  With a grunt Mikado brought his legs up and in one fluid motion pushed Kida over his head and onto the ground by his own head.  Kida sat stunned for a moment as Mikado stood and returned to his lunch.  The black haired teen hid his grin behind the sandwich that was packed on the lower level of the bento box.  It was not nearly as bad as the pasta. 

            “You should eat your lunch Kida-kun,” Mikado said with glittering eyes and mirthful voice. 

            “How did you do that?” Kida asked in amazement.

            “Sheer dumb luck,” Mikado answered honestly.  Kida laughed loudly and basically sat on Mikado’s lap before he picked up his lunch and began to pick through it, making sure to steer clear of the pasta. 

            “You guys really are close huh?” Anri said as she packed up her empty bento. 

            “I guess you could say that,” Kida said as he waggled his eyebrows at Mikado who blushed and pushed the blondes face away.

            “It’s just because we’re childhood friends…” Mikado said softly.  Anri raised an eyebrow and grinned knowingly.

            “Really?”  She said with a tone of disbelief.

            “Y-Yes.” 

            “Well Ryuugamine-kun if you want to stick to that story you should cover up your love bite.”  She pointed to her own neck and tapped it twice.  Mikado inhaled sharply and immediately covered the spot that he thought was hidden. 

            “Wait! Wait I wanna see it!  Did I do a good job Anri-chan? Is it purple or red?” Kida asked as he tried to pry Mikado’s hand away from his neck. 

            “No! Stop!  Kida- _kun_!”

            “Aha!”  Kida yelled as he held both of Mikado’s hands away from his neck, “Damn I did an awesome job! …Hey, hey how sensitive is it Mikado?”

            “Masaomi!  Don’t!” Mikado yelled.  He was however ignored as the blonde leaned in and licked the spot earning a sharp gasp and a shiver all through Mikado’s body. 

            “Ooooh So _sensitive_.”  Mikado finally broke free of Kida’s hold and he covered the purple hickey. 

            “Knock it off Masaomi!”  Mikado yelped in embarrassment.  Anri giggled and she sat in between the two boys as she pulled out a decorated bag.

            “I think you’re about my color Mikado-kun.”  She pulled out a bottle of concealer and a sponge.  She carefully covered the area, only pausing when Mikado flinched from the sensitivity of the bite, until it was completely covered and blended in. 

            “Thank you,” Mikado said softly as Kida frowned.

            “Ahhh Anri-Chan!  How could you cover up such a beauty!  That’s probably the best one I’ve ever given him!”  Mikado instantly flushed and was about to reply when the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. 

            “I’ll meet you guys back in the classroom,” Anri said as she walked away. 

            “Mikado,” Kida called softly as the black haired teen turned to pack his uneaten lunch away.  Mikado blinked and turned back to Kida who cupped the side of the teens face and kissed him softly gaining a bright blush. 

            “W-What was that for?” Mikado whispered after Kida pulled away.  Kida brushed the soft skin of Mikado’s cheek with his thumb.

            “I love you.”  Mikado’s face burned red and he was about to reply with the same words when Kida’s hand slid from his cheek and wiped at his neck, _hard_.

            “Masa _omi_ you did not just do what I think you did!”  Kida held up his hand which was now covered in pale make-up.  Mikado covered the mark with his hand then he tried to fix the collar of his shirt as Kida grabbed his things and ran off laughing like a madman.  Mikado managed to cover the mark without looking completely ridiculous and barely made it into his seat before the bell rang.  He threw a glare at Kida and the blonde pretended not to see.  Halfway through the class it started to snow again and Mikado stared at that instead of listening to the lecture.  He nearly jumped out of his seat when his arm was poked and he was handed a note.  The girl that discreetly handed it to him pointed to Kida and the blonde blew him a not-so-discreet kiss.  With a light blush Mikado opened the note only to find a very detailed picture of himself with Masaomi, _naked_ and in bed.  It appeared that they were cuddling…and sweaty.  Mikado closed the note and proceeded to ignore Masaomi in fear of a raging blush and tell-tale tenting.  It was a blessing when class ended and they were able to leave the school.              

            “Mi-Ka~do~!” Kida sang as they exited the school building after cleaning.  They ignored the normal school activities that they normally did in favor of escaping the rapidly falling snow. 

            “Kida-kun! Don’t!”  Mikado protested as Kida pulled on the collar of his shirt trying to show off the love bite.

            “Did you like my note?” The blonde waggled his eyes suggestively.  Mikado instantly blushed and crushed the urge to reach for his pocket to make sure the explicit note was still there. 

            “It wasn’t school appropriate,” was all Mikado could think of to say.  Kida laughed so hard that he started coughing again and Mikado frowned worried, “Let me see your neck Kida-kun.”

            “Only if you let me see yours,” Kida’s voice was hoarse but he was still waggling his eyebrows and had that dangerously suggestive look in his eye.  Mikado blushed and dogged as Kida tried to pull down the collar of his shirt again. 

            “Kida-kun!” Mikado protested loudly before doing a quick three step to the side only to crash into another person.  Mikado instantly fell into an apologetic bow and he apologized quickly. 

            “Oh it’s you…” Mikado looked up to see the blonde haired man dressed as a bartender.  Mikado glanced around to search for the informant that was normally with the man but failed to see him, “He’s at the apartment.” The ex-bartender answered knowing who the teen was searching for.  He adjusted the paper bags in his hands. 

            “I’m sorry for bumping into you!” Mikado said quickly hoping that the man had some patience that day.  The man skillfully blew cigarette smoke out of the side of his mouth then inhaled another drag. 

            “No problem…hey you’re supposed to get those stitches out aren’t you?”

            “Oh,” Mikado said while touching the back of his head, “I guess I forgot to call Kishitani-san.”  Mikado answered as Kida moved to stand beside the student. 

            “Well come on then, I’ll call him over and we can have him take a look at both of ya.”

           “No tha-,” Kida started but was cut off by Mikado who was all too willing to get another meeting with Izaya.

            “Of course!  Lead the way!”  Shizuo blinked slightly confused at the conflicting answers but shrugged and started walking again leaving it to the teens to decide if they wanted to follow or not.  Mikado skillfully avoided the curious gazes Kida was sending him as the black haired teen tried to discreetly pull his shirt collar up. 

           “You two should be wearing coats in this weather you know,” Shizuo said after the silence became awkward. 

            “You’re one to talk,” Kida muttered.  Shizuo gave him a quick, annoyed glare but let the comment slide. 

            “Ahh, we weren’t expecting snow today,” Mikado said with a smile even though the tall blonde couldn’t see it. 

            “You were too busy to watch the news then?” Mikado almost missed the amused tone when he noticed the side glance at his neck.  With a red face Mikado clapped a hand over his poorly concealed hickey and he glared at a smirking Kida. 

            “No!  We didn’t do that!”  Shizuo was grinning openly at the teen’s frazzled response.  The poor kid tried to get out a sentence but was cut off from another attempt by his blonde counterpart.

            “Why are we going to the train station?”

            “Ahh, the apartments in Shibuya,” Shizuo answered.

            “…You came to Ikebukuro to do your shopping?” Kida asked with a raised eyebrow while Mikado tried his hardest to cease his blushing.

            “I had other business here to do,” Shizuo answered shortly.  He had only worked a few hours with Tom, who had been way to inquisitive about his time off, before he left and did Izaya’s shopping.  He had been calling every five minutes to make sure the flea was okay before he ran into the two high school students.  They bought their tickets and as they were waiting for the train Shizuo pulled out his phone again and called Izaya.

            “Hey tell Shinra to stay there for a bit.  I have those kids with me.”

            “We aren’t _kids_ ,” Kida balked annoyed. 

            “…Yeah….Okay…Are you still doing good?  Because I’m worried that’s why I’m asking…Shut up ya damn louse…I’m getting on the train now…yeah…okay bye.”  Shizuo snapped his phone shut as the train slowed to a stop in front of them and people started flowing out.  They elbowed their way into the train and stood towards the back of the car.  Roughly fifteen minutes later they were exiting the Shibuya station and Shizuo was once again on the phone with Izaya making sure that everything was still good. 

            “Why did you accept his offer?” Kida asked quietly. 

            “…I figured we should do as that man asked…” Mikado answered just as quietly while Shizuo seemed to get annoyed with whatever the other man was saying. 

            “…I guess you’re right but I wish you wouldn’t drag yourself into this…”

            “He told me to get involved too. I doubt he’d take it well if only you did this.  Besides I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I just let you do all the work,” Mikado answered.  Kida slipped his hand into Mikado’s and sighed softly.

            “Sorry I keep dragging you into my shit,” Mikado frowned and, before he lost his nerve, kissed Kida’s cheek then looked forward like he hadn’t done anything.

            “I don’t mind,” Mikado said softly as Shizuo hung up. 

            “Did you say somethin’?” Shizuo asked. 

            “Kida-Kun! You’re so cold!” Mikado exclaimed while clutching the teens hand in both of his.  It wasn’t just a distraction technique Kida was actually shivering at this point.  Shizuo snorted and pulled a jacket from one of his shopping bags and draped it over Kida’s head.  It nearly dragged on the ground.

            “I told you, you should be wearing a fucking coat in this weather,” Shizuo said as the wind picked up and snow blew in their faces. 

            “…Thanks.” Kida said softly avoiding all eye contact with Shizuo when the man nodded in acceptance.  Kida opened the coat to Mikado who declined.

            “I’m warm enough just holding your hand,” Mikado answered as his grip tightened on Kida’s hand, “you use it.”  Kida nodded, he would have forced the coat upon Mikado but the teen wasn’t even shivering and his hand was pretty warm even though snow was melting on the boys eyelashes then refreezing in the cold wind.  Ten minutes later they arrived at Izaya’s building and Mikado’s eyes flickered over to where he thought he saw movement.  They were being watched.  He could only assume it was by the man that had carried Kida’s unconscious body to his apartment and made his demands.  He said nothing to either Kida or Shizuo.  Only once they entered the elevator did Mikado feel slightly relaxed.

            “Um, thanks for letting me use this,” Kida seemed nervous again as he handed the coat back to Shizuo.  The man the grunted and shoved the coat back into the shopping bag.  Mikado frowned in confusion, it didn’t seem like Kida was nervous because of Shizuo’s presence more like he was concerned with the man they were _going_ to be meeting.  Kida was _scared_ of Izaya.  The realization made Mikado’s stomach churn and he couldn’t help but wonder why.  It seemed like there was something in their past but he had only just moved to Ikebukuro and Kida was _not_ going to spill anything about Orihara.  As Shizuo pulled the apartment keys from his pocket one of his shopping bags fell and Mikado quickly lunged to catch it.  Shizuo blinked at the teens quick reflexes but said nothing except,

            “Are the eggs broken?”

            “Um, I don’t think so,” Mikado replied as he tentatively looked in the bag.

            “Good.”  Shizuo unlocked the apartment and as soon as they stepped in Mikado could feel the eyes that couldn’t be seen watching them.  Someone was keeping close tabs on them and it didn’t seem to be a good thing. 

            “Ahh Shizuo!  Finally would you talk some sense into him?!”  Shinra came barreling around the corner as Shizuo toed his shoes off in the genkan, “He needs to be _resting_ not working!”  Shizuo peered around the corner of the small wall separating the genkan from the rest of the apartment then let out a frustrated huff of air.  He shoved his grocery bags onto Mikado and Kida.

            “Take those to the kitchen will ya.”  Shizuo crushed his third cigarette in his hand and dumped it in the ash tray by the door.  The two boys glanced at each other before removing their own shoes and walking into the large apartment.  They heard an indignant squawk from Izaya and looked over in time to see Shizuo carrying him by the back of a black pullover hoodie to the living room. 

            “Ow! Ow Shizu-Chan you’re hurting me!”  Izaya yelped as he was placed, none too gently, onto the couch and held down so Shinra could finish his job, “you damn brute!  _Fuck_ Shinra that _hurts_.”    

            “If you would just hold still I wouldn’t miss!” 

            “The _fuck_ is _that_?!”   Mikado and Kida carefully made their way into the kitchen and Mikado went about putting the refrigerated and frozen items away so they would stay fresh.  They shuffled nervously as the informant gave a few more yelps then went silent. 

            “They killed him,” Kida whispered darkly in Mikado’s ear making the younger jump. 

            “Ki-Kida-kun!  Don’t say that!”  Mikado gasped.  They carefully made their way into the living room where Shizuo was sitting on the couch with Izaya’s arms held together in one of Shizuo’s hands and pulled to rest on the fabric of the ex-bartenders shoulder.  The informant had his eyes screwed shut and was biting his lower lip as Shinra carefully applied some sort of medication to the wound in his abdomen and right shoulder.  The medic wrapped the wounds snugly and removed his gloves. He then gave the man a shot of something that did not look pleasant to receive. 

            “There, now we could have been done with that an hour ago if you would have just cooperated,” Shinra said proudly as he removed his gloves and properly disposed of them. 

            “Fuck. You.” Izaya panted. 

            “Well if you hadn’t of reopened your wounds I wouldn’t have had to do any of that.” The doctor looked slightly peeved and slightly upset, like he had figured out why the wounds had come open but was uncomfortable about it. 

            “I ran into that kid today, you said you wanted to take those stitches out no?” Shizuo asked as he released Izaya’s wrists and reached into the pocket of his pants and returned the informants beloved flick knife to him. 

            “I noticed!” Shinra exclaimed happily.  He looked to Mikado, “I got a little worried when you hadn’t called me back.  I’m a bit of a secret to hospitals and law enforcement so I’d appreciate some secrecy.” 

            “Oh, yes of course!  I’d just forgotten about it…” Mikado said.  It had been a blur after he had woken up with Kida the day after the stitches were put in.  Kida had convinced him to go stay at the blondes place for the weekend and suddenly a week passed and it was Friday again. 

            “We tried your place but you weren’t in…” Shinra looked a little worried as he gestured for the teen to sit on the floor.

            “Ah, I was staying with Kida-kun.” 

            “Looks like you two were busy,” Izaya commented sounding far more composed than he looked as he tapped lightly on his neck while giving Mikado and Kida a suggestive look.  Mikado instantly blushed and Kida glared at Izaya as if to tell him to back off.  

            “Why does everyone think that?!” Mikado groaned as he cupped the side of his neck.  He winced slightly as he felt a slight tug on the back of his head.  Shinra chuckled but as soon as he noticed movement from the couch his good mood evaporated and he glared at the informant who was trying to sit up.

            “Don’t move or I’ll have Shizuo hold you down again,” Shinra ordered in his best doctor voice.  Izaya contemplated his choices before he settled back onto the couch with a slight glare.  Shinra’s warm personality flicked back on and he inspected the healing wound on Mikado’s head before he pulled a syringe and a small bottle full of a clear liquid from his black bag.

            “What’s that?” Kida asked feeling antsy as the doctor sucked some of the liquid into the syringe. 

            “An antibiotic, your showing just a touch of bacterial growth and I just want to make sure it’s dead before you get sick from it,” Shinra said more to Mikado than Kida.  Mikado nodded and allowed his arm to be cleaned off before flinching away from the needle.  Shinra was unfazed and successfully administered the antibiotic.  He cotton balled and band-aided the small prick.  He then put the used needle in a plastic case and grabbed a cotton ball and a bottle of something similar to Hydrogen Peroxide.  Mikado tensed and clenched his fists as the alcohol burned his skin and made the back of his head tingle unpleasantly. 

            “Ow…” The teen muttered under his breath. 

            “I’m just going to wrap it so no other bacteria can get in as easily.  Just make sure you’re careful with what you get in your hair and be sure to wash this spot out even if it stings a bit,” Shinra advised. 

            “Okay, thank you.” Mikado stood and pushed Kida over at the doctor’s request.  The teen removed his school jacket and sweater obediently but still tensed up when Shinra poked and prodded the area.

            “This looks a lot better but you’ve still got to be careful and keep rotating some cold compresses on this before bed for about an hour,” Shinra said while carefully lifting Kida’s arm to see how high it could go before the teen winced.  He moved on to gently feel the front of Kida’s neck.  His fingers moved smoothly over and around the Adams apple and up to his chin then back down to his collar bone, “Don’t do anything that could potentially injure your neck, I’ll have to give you a note to get out of gym class.  Any extra pressure on it and you could be worse off than you started.  Everything is still pretty weak and I’m assuming sore.”

            “Yeah, It still hurts me,” Kida answered lowly feeling far too exposed in only his T-shirt.  Shinra dug around in his bag and produced a small bottle of pills and handed them to the teen.

            “Take two in the morning and if you’re still in pain you can take two more at night as well,” Shinra said then wrote messily on a piece of paper that would excuse Kida from doing anything too strenuous in gym class, “Don’t do anything that makes you breathe heavy or could cause you to go into a bad coughing fit you’ll worsen everything.”  Shinra cautioned.  

            “Thank you,” Kida said as he put his layers back on and moved to stand next to Mikado again.  It was then that he realized that Izaya had fallen asleep with his head resting on Shizuo’s lap and the bodyguard’s fingers running through his hair.  It was strange to see the man that had caused him so much grief with his guard down so low that he was sleeping in other people’s presence. 

            “Oh!  The sedative worked!” Shinra exclaimed happily.  Kida shrugged, that would do it. 

            “Why don’t you all stay for dinner,” Shizuo offered.  Shinra declined with a shake of his head. 

            “That’s okay Celty’s coming so I’ll be okay.  We’re going to try and make up that date night tonight.  I’m sure these boys would love to stay for a while though!  It seems like they’ll have to with this blizzard that’s going on.”  Shinra said while pointing to the large windows which were completely white with the snow falling. 

            “Wait, what about you?  You can’t possibly expect to be able to drive in this or even get a train!” Mikado exclaimed as he looked out the window with slight horror.  Everything would be shutting down with this amount of snow. 

            “It’s okay, I’ve got a special kind of ride.” Shinra added a wink as his cell phone went off.  He looked at it just as a horses neigh was heard, “Ah Celty’s here.”  Mikado looked out of the window and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he caught a glimpse of the Black Biker between the sheets of snow and ice.  The doctor left and the situation began to dawn on Kida.  It was supposed to snow all weekend and possibly get even worse.  They were going to be stuck in this apartment until the storm let up.  Kida would have to deal with Ikebukuro’s worst while trying to protect Mikado.

            “Fuck.”

 


	7. A peak into his past

Chapter 7

A peak into his Past

           

Shirozake crept along the sides of the street hidden by shadows and the thickly falling snow. He couldn’t believe his luck when he saw the two boys he was blackmailing following Heiwajima of all people.  He frowned slightly when he realized that Izaya was not in the mix and a homicide could not be attempted but at least he could see what their relationship was at this point.   He pulled his coat around him tighter when the wind started to blow and a curious grin spread across his face when he noticed that the black haired boy seemed to notice his eyes on them.  Yet the boy had not discovered Shirozake’s hiding place. 

Nearly chuckling with excitement, Shirozake followed them to the apartment complex that Izaya was holed up in.  He could see the lights in the penthouse on yet he couldn’t see in the room.  Shirozake entered the building across the street and managed to get to the top floor without arousing suspicion.  He made it in time to see a meek looking brown haired man giving Orihara an injection.  The man was still clearly injured and if Shirozake could just catch him outside of that damn apartment he could take him down.  He would have to plan carefully; he would have to be able to hit Orihara with a bullet from several meters away to avoid Heiwajima’s temper and fists. 

The brown haired man looked like he was chastising Orihara before turning his attention to the black haired boy that still seemed to notice that someone was watching.  He was an interesting child, Shirozake decided, one that deserved attention.  However this brown haired man was not someone that Shirozake was acquainted with and he wasn’t sure what to think about him.  Upon watching their reactions more closely, he came to the conclusion that this man was a friend of both Orihara and Heiwajima.  It looked like the man was excusing himself, although it was hard to tell with the way the snow and wind had picked up.  Making his way down to the first floor Shirozake was able to get a better look at the man as he was leaving the apartment complex.  The man was ballsy; he gave him that, going out in this weather to try and catch a train back was probably impossible.  Shirozake didn’t believe in giving up opportunities though, he was going to talk to the man to find out who he was.  He took one step outside of the building and noticed the Black Biker of all beings was waiting outside Orihara’s apartment complex.  It waved over to the mousy brown haired man and he hurried over and placed a black helmet, that appeared seemingly out of nowhere on his head then mounted the bike and wrapped his arms around the riders waist.  Things were getting interesting, Shirozake thought as he retreated unable to take on the legendary Black Biker.  This man was a friend of Orihara, Heiwajima, and not to mention the Black Biker.  He was going to be a very interesting subject later.

\------------------

Frowning, Izaya sat up and surveyed his surroundings.  He was in his room, probably brought there by Shizuo who betrayed him by assisting Shinra with that dreaded sedative disguised as an antibiotic.  Izaya wasn’t dumb he knew that the bottles were color coordinated and as soon as Shinra had said that Mikado’s was an antibiotic he knew that the liquid from the white rimmed bottle that had been used on _him,_ was much different from the liquid in the blue rimmed bottle that the boy had received.  His suspicions were confirmed when he couldn’t lift an arm to swat at Shizuo or keep his burning eyes open moments later.

            Sighing Izaya rubbed his face and carefully sat up wincing at the tug in his wounds.  They were looking significantly better, still bleeding when he accidentally pulled them open or when Shizuo was accidentally a little rough with him, but still looking better.  The faux blonde still had a temper on him even when he wasn’t pretending to hate Izaya’s guts.  Izaya had gone a little too far in his teasing lately but lucky for him Shizuo mostly stormed out onto the side balcony to smoke and smoke until Izaya came out and snatched the sticks away from him and finished off the one that Shizuo was working on. 

If he went downstairs now would he find Shizuo brooding on the couch?  Cooking dinner?  Would he be angry or just worried?  Perhaps he wouldn’t even be there.  Earlier in the day Izaya had gone way too far with his poking and teasing and Shizuo suddenly stated that he was going to work and that Izaya had better get over himself by the time he returned.  When the blonde called five minutes after he left Izaya thought it was to say that he was coming back for Izaya and that he had better be ready to go.  Instead he was checking in, stating that even though he needed to get out of the apartment he was still going to make sure that Izaya was okay.

 The unexpected rush of emotion that Izaya had experienced at that moment suddenly came back with force.  He suddenly needed to see Shizuo and possibly follow the man.  He wasn’t going to lie to himself, maybe to Shizuo if he asked, but not to himself because he _was_ worried when Shizuo left, he figured someone was going to attack the blonde.  Yet, Shizuo dutifully called every five minutes reporting no problems on his end and how was Izaya?   

            Izaya struggled to his feet and managed to stand despite the after effects of the drug, one of them he was sure was this overwhelming emotion he was feeling.  This was not something that would be considered normal for him.  On wobbly legs he made his way into the bathroom, after all first things came first.  Once that pressing matter was out of the way Izaya fought the drug again and, while gripping the railing on the stairs like it was a life line, he started his decent.

  He paused halfway down the stair case when he realized there were other people in his apartment.  It sounded as if…yes, that was Kida Masaomi speaking in a rather enthusiastic voice about something he had done with, or to, Mikado-kun.  The black haired boy’s voice carried along with it, urgently trying to quiet the younger (1) boy.  Izaya frowned unhappily when Shizuo laughed, loudly, as Masaomi finished his tale.

            “That reminds me of the time when Izaya,” Shizuo started.  It was all Izaya needed to hear before he knew that he needed to stop Shizuo from telling this story at whatever cost.  He needed a distraction!  He looked at the remainder of the stairs, it wouldn’t be hard to blame a fall on the medication…but he didn’t want to look so weak to Masaomi and the infamous Dollars leader.  Instead Izaya sat and leaned against the railing, still out of sight of everyone downstairs. 

            “Shi-Shizu-chan!”  He called making his voice sound as if he were out of breath.  Instantly Shizuo’s story stopped and he excused himself from the living room.  Izaya clutched the support railing just as Shizuo’s head poked around the corner.

            “What are you doing out of bed?”

            “Needed some water,” Izaya said quietly as Shizuo ascended the stairs. 

            “You should have just called from your room,” the blonde chuckled and offered a hand to help the informant up.  Izaya took it and when Shizuo pulled a little too hard Izaya clutched the hand tighter in fear of a fall but was caught around the waist and against Shizuo’s chest.  Taking the situation to his advantage, Izaya leaned up and placed his lips by Shizuo’s ear.

            “Information on me doesn’t get sold to others Shizu-chan,” the black haired man patted the ex-bartender on the cheek before leaning away.  Shizuo was blushing lightly but other than that he didn’t look ashamed of what he had been about to say.  Instead of commenting on it the blonde cleared his throat and changed the subject.

            “You shouldn’t be fighting off the drugs like this you know…”

            “It’s Shinra’s damn fault for giving me a sedative anyway.”  Shizuo sighed and gripped Izaya around the waist, helping him down the stairs.

            “It’s your own fault for not obeying the doctor’s orders to stay off those damn computers and sleep.  That’s what injured people do you know, sleep and rest, they drink lots of juice and all that crap.”  Shizuo released Izaya before they were seen by the two teens sitting in the living room, saving Izaya his dignity.  Shizuo pointed firmly to the couch and Izaya gave a playful shrug before going off in that direction while Shizuo went to the kitchen for a glass of water.  Izaya tried not to show how unhappy he was that he couldn’t stick to Shizuo’s side like he had intended to before, as he sat gingerly on the couch with a grin.

            “Welcome to my humble abode,” Izaya greeted the two high schooler’s, one scowling and the other straight faced but both holding hands.

            “Thank you,” Mikado said when it became clear that Kida wasn’t going to say anything, “Although we’ve been here for a few hours.”

            “Oh you wanted to see me that badly?  I’m honored.”

            “No, there’s a storm going on,” Kida said still scowling, “Trust me, we’ll be out of your hair as soon as the trains are back in business.” 

            “Oh, Masaomi-kun, you’re hurting my feelings,” Izaya grinned while placing a hand over his heart.         

            “What feelings?” Kida muttered while looking away his grip on Mikado’s hand tightened.  Mikado glanced worried at Masaomi; his hand had suddenly become sweaty.  Was he truly that nervous about being around Izaya? 

            “How rude of you, to insinuate that I don’t have feelings Masaomi-kun!  After all I did take such good care of you as a-,”

            “Shut up!  Just SHUT UP!”  Kida yelled standing suddenly, his grip on Mikado’s hand tightening.  Shizuo walked into the room as Izaya’s hand twitched toward his knife, just in case. 

            “Masaomi…” Mikado mumbled. 

            “Izaya,” Shizuo warned at the same time.  Izaya grinned and crossed his legs; he then held his hands up in surrender taking them away from his pockets.

            “Yes dear?” He answered without taking his eyes off of Masaomi. 

            “Be nice.” Shizuo demanded as he pressed a glass of water into the informants hand, “Or else.”  Izaya’s grin grew and his eyes flickered over to Shizuo.

            “Or else, _what_?”  Shizuo leaned down next to Izaya’s ear and whispered a few choice words that had the grin on Izaya’s face slowly disappearing and his gaze flickered to the bookshelf for half a second before returning to Shizuo’s face. 

            “That’s what,” Shizuo finished.

            “…Shizu-Chan plays dirty~” Izaya smirked before taking a sip of the water. 

            “Apologize,” Shizuo ordered. 

            “Shizu- _chan_ ~” Izaya pouted trying to get his way and failing.

            “Do it.”

            “It’s fine!” Kida said suddenly, “I don’t need his apologies.”  Mikado glanced up at Masaomi, worried.  Shizuo shrugged and sat down again, the air became awkward. 

            “Pardon us for a moment, but I need to talk to Masaomi!” Mikado suddenly blurted out. 

            “Yeah sure, go ahead,” Shizuo said, “I need to talk to this flea anyway.”  Mikado stood and tugged a protesting Masaomi away and into the kitchen. 

            “Yes Shizu-chan?”  Izaya batted his eyelashes while sipping on the water.

            “I don’t know what you did to that kid, but seriously can’t you leave him alone?”

            “Well where’s the fun in that?  He’s so easy to provoke!”

            “Izaya, he’s hurting…I don’t know why but it’s so obvious in his eyes.”

            “Yes I suppose he would be.”

            “Again I don’t know what you did to him, and no I don’t _want_ to know,” Shizuo said with closed eyes with Izaya opened his mouth, “But lay off of him, he’s just a kid.”

            “Oh you like Masaomi-kun?”  Izaya took advantage of their solitude by laying his head on Shizuo’s side.

            “He’s a good kid.”

            “What makes you say that?”  Izaya asked while tucking his legs up to his thighs.

            “He’s trying so hard to protect that boy.  Someone who tries that hard has got to be a good kid.” 

            “Oh?  And if I told you he was trying to hide his secrets from the same boy?  And if those secrets would possibly make Mikado-kun hate him?”  Izaya asked.

            “Everyone has secrets Izaya.”  Izaya frowned, it wasn’t the answer he was expecting.  Damn this man for being so unpredictable.          

            “Even you?”

            “Even me.”  Again it wasn’t what Izaya was expecting.  He looked up to Shizuo a frown on his face and in his eyes, “Don’t make that face Izaya, you have secrets too.”

            “Secrets I don’t tell you because you don’t want to know, or they could potentially put your life in danger,” Izaya said.

            “Yes, and I keep my secrets secret because you are already stressed out enough.  You don’t need to add anything else to that plate,” Shizuo said while placing his hand on Izaya’s cheek. 

            “I’m not stressed,” Izaya countered.

            “You’re a damn terrible liar,” Shizuo said with a laugh.  He gave the informant a chaste kiss then took the still full glass of water from Izaya’s hand, “So what did you really come down here for?  Not water I’m sure.”  Shizuo gently sloshed the water in the glass. 

            “It’s a secret,” Izaya said while rubbing his nose against Shizuo’s neck.

            “Weirdo,” Shizuo mumbled but wrapped an arm around the informants shoulders anyway.  

\---------------------

            “Masaomi-,”

            “Mikado, I _don’t_ want to talk about it,” Masaomi said while looking anywhere but at Mikado. 

            “Well I do.”

            “There’s nothing to-,”

            “You’re scared of Orihara-san aren’t you?”  While phrased as a questions Mikado said it as a fact.  Masaomi’s mouth snapped shut.

            “…”

            “I thought so…What did he do?”  Mikado asked while trying to get into Masaomi’s line of sight.

            “…”

            “Masaomi…”  Mikado was starting to get frustrated with the worried eyes he was not receiving and the slight tremble in Masaomi’s frame.

            “I-I told you Mikado, I don’t want to talk about it.”

            “Well if we’re supposed to be getting close to him then I need to know!”  Mikado’s voice was still low but the frustration in it could be heard very well. 

            “…Mikado, don’t…”  Anger took over and Mikado’s gang persona came forward.  He took Masaomi by the shoulders and pressed him roughly against the wall, “Mi-Mikado!” 

            “Tell me!”  Mikado ordered his eyes cold and firm.  Masaomi blinked in shock at this complete change in character, “or I’ll just go get the story from Orihara-san myself.”  When Masaomi hesitated Mikado released him and turned to walk out of the kitchen.

            “Wait! You aren’t serious are you?”  Masaomi grabbed Mikado’s shoulder and turned him back around.

            “Dead serious,” Mikado answered with his hand on the wall.  Kida shifted uncomfortably. 

            “There’s no easy way to say it…I used to get tons of information from Izaya.”

            “What about?”  Kida flinched at the question.  He knew it was coming there was no way that Mikado wouldn’t ask, but he was _not_ prepared to answer it at all.  He had been telling Mikado from day one to stay away from gangs and anyone associated with them, what would Mikado do when he found out?  If he found out?

            “Mikado…I…I can’t…answer that yet…”  He was far too scared to tell Mikado, because really what was he other than a wimp and terrified?

            “…then tell me why you’re so scared of Orihara-san.”

            “Like I said I used to get tons of information from him and I became entirely dependent on him…it was all a part of his plan and I didn’t see it until it was way too late,” Kida slid down the wall and brought his knees to his chest.  Mikado slowly reverted back to his regular self, the gang persona going away as Kida started to talk more.

            “Okay…”

            “I couldn’t do anything on my own, I was too scared to, I thought I would fail.  I went to him before I ever did _anything_.  Before you got here I dated a girl, Saki, and…and she was taken.  I knew where she was but I didn’t know what to _do._   For…specific reasons I _couldn’t_ go to the police.  So I called Izaya…I called him for hours.  Not once did he pick up that phone or answer emails.  I know he had his phone on him that whole time.  He was literally ignoring my calls.  He knew what was going on, after all he’s the one that set it up.”

            “Her kidnapping?”

            “Yeah, he gets this sadistic pleasure from watching other people suffer and he was having a ball watching my calls come in every few seconds.  I’m sure he was laughing and at one point I decided I was just going to go and I was literally in the alley way to where she was.  I froze, I was so scared, I could _hear_ her screaming and I just…I didn’t know what to do.  I called him again and he still didn’t pick up.  They killed her Mikado (2), and I just stood there and listened to her die while calling and calling.”  Fat tears rolled from Masaomi’s eyes and he gripped his hair nearly pulling some of it out.

            “…”

            “I couldn’t even go in after they were done…I…I ran…I went home and I saw it on the news…what they had done.  It was then that Izaya called me saying that he was sorry he missed my calls but was preoccupied that night.  I was so pissed, I told him I would kill him and he just laughed.  I hung up…I can’t…” Masaomi hiccupped, “I _can’t_ trust him Mikado.  What if I end up losing you too?!”  Mikado swallowed thickly, his stomach churning violently.  He wrapped his arms around Masaomi’s trembling frame feeling horribly guilty.  He forced Masaomi to stay something so _awful_ and they weren’t even in the privacy of their own _home_ to work things out.

            “I’m sorry, I’m sorry Masaomi,” Mikado apologized his voice trembling, “I shouldn’t of made you say it…I’m sorry.  You won’t lose me, I promise.”  Masaomi’s fingers untangled from his hair and gripped the front of Mikado’s shirt instead.

            “I swear,” Masaomi was looking determined as he stared with liquid gold eyes into Mikado’s navy ones, so determined that Mikado instantly stopped his apologies to listen, “I _swear_ I will protect you Mikado.  _No one_ will touch you; I swear my life on it!”  Mikado’s eyes watered and he weakly smacked the side of Masaomi’s face.

            “Moron.  Don’t swear your life on something like that,” Mikado said, he continued before Masaomi could protest, “I’ll protect _you,_ idiot.”  Masaomi wiped his face and lightly punched Mikado’s shoulder.           

            “What makes you think that you can protect me, crybaby,” Masaomi was clearly trying to tease him from their days in their hometown, but with those dried tear tracks and with a face as red as the one Masaomi was currently wearing, it just made Mikado laugh.

            “Who’s the crybaby here?!”  Masaomi offered a grin but internally he was worried that Mikado might think differently of him at this point.

            “You of course,” Masaomi said while extending a hand and wiping away the tears that were falling, unnoticed, from Mikado’s eyes. 

            “Naturally,” Mikado answered.

            “Yeah…”

 

**It seems that I have made a mistake in Mikado and Masaomi’s ages, Mikado was born in March and Kida in June in the same year…I was totally off there so pardon previous chapters which have Kida marked as older.**

**Okay I know that Saki just had her legs broken but for this plot I had to kill her.  To all you Saki lovers, my apologies but I did what needed to be done.**

 


	8. Further Instruction

**Chapter 8**

**Futher Instruction**

 

            **I’m putting a bit of a TIME SKIP in here; it’s been a few weeks since they stayed at Izaya’s and the four have been seeing a lot more of each other.**

            Mikado looked anxiously back at Masaomi who, ever since the night at the informants, had been acting slightly distant.  There were times when they would be getting out of school at the same time that Shizuo would be returning to Shibuya with groceries and the blonde would ask Mikado to go home without him before running off to talk to the other man.  It was times like that when Mikado would pull out his cell phone and start a conversation with Izaya, who was feeling much better now that he was healed enough to walk and run. 

            He changed his line of vision from Masaomi to the front gates.  It seemed that today wouldn’t be an exception.  Shizuo was standing by the gates with an arm full of food and an irritated look on his face; a half smoked cigarette was hanging from his mouth.  Masaomi followed Mikado’s line of vision and his eyes practically lit up.  Mikado frowned and faced forward copying down the last of the notes on the board before shoving his notebook in his bag. 

            “I’ll be home later, kay,” Masaomi predictably said, Mikado grabbed his arm before he could hurry out the door.  He dragged the confused blonde out the door squeezing past students as he did.  He pushed the teen into the boys bathroom which was thankfully empty.  As they caught their breath Mikado gathered his nerves.  It was wrong of him for forcing Masaomi to spill his life story that night at Izaya’s and he thought that was why Masaomi was being so distant.  Perhaps if he apologized, Masaomi would be more open again.

           “…Masaomi…” Mikado sat up and grabbed the front of the blonde’s sweater, “I shouldn’t have forced you to say-,”

            “You didn’t!”  Masaomi said hurriedly knowing what Mikado was talking about.  Apparently the blonde had been thinking about it too.  It irritated Mikado that the blonde was just trying to push it to the side.

            “Stop it!”  Mikado raised his voice, “Stop trying to make everything uncomfortable or _wrong_ disappear!  You _can’t_!”

            “I’m not.”

            “STOP!”  Mikado yelled startling the blonde, “ _I was wrong_!  I shouldn’t have made you talk!  It was selfish and rude and I’m stupid because of it!  I should have waited until we got _home_ to even ask.  No I shouldn’t have asked because you are still…still…”

            “Still…what exactly?” Masaomi asked cautiously.

            “Still…trying to run from your past,” Mikado answered softly.  

            “I-I” Masaomi was having a hard time denying it, “I was just…I’m…”

            “You won’t face Izaya-san because of it.  You refuse to face it; you refuse to move on from it.”  Masaomi’s eyes flashed.

            “I _killed_ her Mikado.  I can’t just _move on from it_.”

            “Really.  _You_ killed her?  What weapon did _you_ use?  How long did _you_ torture her? What did _you_ do after?”

            “That’s not the point,” Masaomi started.  Mikado forced himself to ignore the tears sparkling in the other’s eyes.

            “But it is!  What could you have done besides get yourself killed in the process?!  You were a defenseless kid!  You would have _died_ too!” 

            “I _wasn’t_ defenseless!”

            “Stop trying to make things into something that they aren’t Masaomi!”

            “I’m the leader of the Yellow Scarves!”  Masaomi blurted out, “I’m not…defenseless…”  Mikado’s jaw dropped slightly and his hands slipped through the fabric of Kida’s sweater.

            “…What?”

            “I have been…for years…”  Masaomi avoided eye contact.  There was no way to take it back now, “I…I…That’s why I couldn’t go to the police…it was all…well did you hear about the war between Yellow Scarves and Blue Sharks?”

            “…Yeah…that was why?  You disbanded and now are a gang again?” 

            “Yeah…”  An awkward silence fell between the two and as he calmed down Mikado realized he had done it again.

            “Damn it,” He swore, “I’m sorry Masaomi…I keep forcing you to say these things…”

            “…You didn’t force me…I wanted to tell you.”  Mikado twiddled his thumbs together.  Despite Masaomi’s words he still felt the guilt clouding his mind.  He _had_ to tell Masaomi he led the Dollars.  He had to make things right.  He opened his mouth.

            “…Masaomi…I…”

            “Shut up,” Masaomi said suddenly, “I don’t wanna hear it until you’re _ready_ to say something. You don’t owe me anything so don’t bother.”

            “How did you know…I-,”

            “I just know you pretty well I guess,” Masaomi said before pressing his forehead to Mikado’s. 

            “But-,”

            “Let’s not finish this talk here.  Let’s wait until we are home…I’m going to talk to Shizuo first though…so go ahead without me.”  Kida kissed Mikado’s cheek and left the bathroom.  Mikado’s hand shook, nothing was fixed at all. He flicked his phone open before sighing and closing his phone.  He had to be careful when texting Izaya, he knew the man was an informant and anything he said had to be said when he was thinking about the consequences.  It would be unwise to text the man in his current irritated state.  He returned to the classroom.

            “Ryuugamine-kun.”  Mikado looked to his left.

            “Ah, Anri-chan, is something wrong?”

            “I was going to ask you that, actually,” Anri shifted her weight leaning on her other foot, “You look upset.”

            “It’s nothing…nothing really…” She frowned and pushed her glasses up as they started to fall.

            “You know, you _can_ talk to me…I mean ever since you two started to date, I’ve started to feel like a third wheel.”  She tucked her hair behind her ear.  Mikado’s stomach tightened.

            “I-I didn’t know…” He said dumbly, “I…we-we should get together…all three of us like we used to…”

           “…Like we used to?  We used to sit on the brick wall in the park talking while Kida-kun chatted the ears off of girls,” Anri countered, “Now I feel like you’d be a jealous mess.”

            “J-Jealous?  I-I wouldn’t be…I mean…He did it before….I just…”      Anri giggled.

            “You know, it’s okay to be jealous,” She said while leaning on the desk and placing her pack down, “it just shows that you care for him.  _I’m_ really jealous that you two can express such feelings…” Mikado’s eyes met the dirty tiles on the floor.  Masaomi had skipped out on cleaning duties again…to talk to Shizuo.  Mikado’s eyes were burning to look outside.  He realized he had been silent for too long a time;

            “Thanks, Anri-chan,” He said with a forced smile.  She seemed to see through it instantly. 

            “Go on, I’ll take yours and Kida-kun’s cleaning duty today,” She said, “You look like you could use some rest.”

            “I couldn’t-,”

            “You aren’t making me do anything Ryuugamine-kun,” Anri denied, “Just go on and get home.”  Mikado was pushed out the door and turned around just in time for the door to be shut.  With a sigh he pulled his phone out and flicked it open; he started the walk for home. 

            [ _Do you ever get jealous, Izaya-san?_ ] Mikado carefully stepped down to the first floor flipping his phone back open as it vibrated in his hand.

            [ _Is someone taking your precious Kida-chan?_ ] Mikado scoffed, he could hear the taunting tone Izaya was no doubt using.

            [ _Yeah, your boyfriend._ ] Mikado snapped the phone shut and placed it on top of the shoe lockers.  He changed his school shoes out for his street ones.  He straightened his winter coat and tightened his scarf.  He grabbed his phone just as it vibrated again, the late reply telling him that Izaya was shocked to learn this.

            [ _Really?_ ] Mikado smirked; Izaya had taken far too long to reply for just a simple word.  Mikado imagined some irritation and then typing and deleting before sending.

            [ _They’ve been talking every day._ ]

            [ _Really…_ ] Mikado bit his lip as he turned the corner.  Izaya seemed upset; the last thing he wanted was to get Shizuo in trouble. 

            [ _…I can’t really say what it’s about but it seems important…_ ]

            [ _Now, now Mikado-chan, don’t hold back!  You can tell me everything you know!]_

            [ _…What do you mean chan?_ ]

            [ _Don’t avoid the question, Mika-chan_ ]

            “Che,” Mikado spat; clenching the cell phone tighter in his hands. What the hell did he mean by _Mika_ - _chan_? Although, Izaya was digging for information, he had the upper hand here.  Even though he had no idea what they were talking about he could still sell it like he did.

            [ _Don’t ignore me!  You’re so mean Mika-chan!_ ]

            [ _They talk about this and that._ ] Mikado taunted.

            [ _So cruel, very well what do you want?_ ]

            [ _I’m coming over._ ] Mikado made the impromptu decision and quickly changed course in the train station for the line to Shibuya.  Shizuo hadn’t arrived yet so that meant he was still talking to Masaomi.  He took the necessary train ride and after an uncomfortable ride standing between a sweaty business man and a plump American, Mikado practically ran out of the train.  He made it quickly to the now familiar apartment complex and he hurried to the elevator.  The elevator, like the train, was cramped but as he rose higher getting to the penthouse, the crowds vanished floor by floor.  Soon he was knocking on Izaya’s door waiting to be let in. 

            “Mikado-chan!” The door flung open and Mikado was pulled sharply in by a surprisingly strong grip on his shirt.  The teen was pinned to the wall and Izaya’s face was near his, “Now let’s have a conversation, shall we?” 

            “You’ve gotten stronger,” Mikado commented with a pleasant smile.

            “No fun, where’s the other Mika-chan?” 

            “…The other?”  Mikado searched the room trying to find a clue that would lead him to Izaya’s meaning. 

            “The scary Mika-chan,” Izaya clarified, “He comes out sometimes when it’s just the two of us.”  Mikado raised a questioning eyebrow.

            “Did you take something Kishitani-sensei gave you? Perhaps you should lie down until it wears off.  I’ll let him know it gives you strange side effects,” Mikado said while pressing his fingertips against Izaya’s chest. 

            “Hmm.” Izaya waltzed away, disappearing into the kitchen.  Mikado toed his shoes off in the genkan before following after the informant.  He took a seat on the couch, his usual spot.  Izaya returned with tea and took a sip out of Mikado’s before putting it on the coffee table.

            “You know I’m not Masaomi,” Mikado said as he picked the cup up, “I don’t distrust you that much.”

            “Maybe you should,” Izaya said as he sipped from his own cup. Mikado eyed him.

            “I like to think that you like having me around.”

            “Really?”  Izaya’s eyebrow rose.

            “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t continually allow me to come back here,” Mikado answered, “I think you’re interested in me…Although I don’t really know why you would be.  Perhaps part of the interest lies in Masaomi.” 

            “Perhaps…” Izaya spoke over the lip of his mug. 

            “In which case,” Mikado’s eyes hardened and his grip tightened on the tea cup, “I’m going to have to tell you to back off of Masaomi.” Izaya grinned and hid it behind his mug.

            “Of course, of course,” Izaya agreed steadily, “But I am curious.  Why would he commandeer Shizu-chan’s time every day?” 

            “I don’t know.”  Mikado answered firmly. 

            “Ahh, is that where Mika-chan’s question comes in?  Am I jealous?”  Izaya asked his eyes bright.

            “Are you?”

            “Are _you_?” Izaya returned.

            “I just want to know what _your_ boyfriend is talking about with mine.”

            “Well I believe we may have a problem.  It seems that both of us are looking for an answer that neither has.”  The room fell silent and Mikado stared the informant down making sure that he wasn’t being tricked or lied to.  The tension began to build to the point that it made Mikado’s fingers tremble.  Izaya’s red eyes bore into his blue ones; perhaps he was making sure of the same thing. 

            _Buzzbuzzbuzz_

            Mikado jumped as the phone in his pocket began to vibrate.  Stiffly, he put the tea down and pulled the phone out.  A quick glance down showed it was from Masaomi. He ignored it and put the phone on the arm of the couch. 

            “Why were you shot, Izaya-san?” Mikado’s voice was smooth and cold.  It ran over Izaya’s skin giving him chills and gooseflesh. 

            “Ah, is this what has been bothering you?”  Izaya asked the smile wobbling a little on his face, “Why would you want to know that?”

            “We didn’t get involved in each other’s lives for no reason, I’m sure you’re aware of this.”         “I was…curious.”

            “And? Did you find anything?”

            “Irritatingly enough, no,” Izaya admitted, the smile dropping from his face.

            “I didn’t think you would…” Mikado said while picking his tea back up.  There was a brief silence, “Who is Shirozake, really?”  Izaya stiffened.

            “Why do you know that name?” Izaya asked his head whirling with scenarios.   

            “Why were you shot?  It has to do with that man, I know it.”

            “What makes you so sure of that?”  Izaya asked carefully.

            “He came knocking.” Mikado looked Izaya straight on, “Then he threatened myself and Masaomi.  You were wondering how Masaomi got that huge bruise weren’t you?”   

            “…”

            “You couldn’t find anything on that either, could you?”  Mikado continued, “That man hurt Masaomi and threatened both of us.  I’m done being out of the loop.  Everyone already seems to know something about him and I know nothing, so you better start spilling or-,”

            “Or what exactly?” Izaya asked amused. 

            “I’ll inform Shizuo-san of your antics against Masaomi that caused the disbanding of the Yellow Scarves.” 

            “…I was unaware that you knew about that.”

            “Masaomi told me,” Mikado answered, “For an informant; it seems that there are quite a few gaps in your network web.”

            “Ah but I can only find out what people share,” Izaya said, “You are sharing now aren’t you?”

            “I would call it blackmail.”  Izaya grinned.

            “Yes, I suppose it is that as well,” Izaya replied, “But you know, my information does come at a price.”

            “You tell me about him, I’ll tell you what he wanted from us.” 

           “…Very well,” Izaya answered cautiously, “Shirozake was a gang member of the Yellow Scarves before its disband.  Not knowing what he should do or rather, who to join, he became a gang hopper.  Shirozake was oblivious to certain rules of the Yakuza when joined.  Once someone joins the Yakuza you never leave, unless it’s in a body bag.  He managed to escape, leaving only a finger behind.  That’s when he joined Taihou’s gang.”

            “Taihou…” Mikado’s eyebrows scrunched together, “The name sounds familiar.”  Izaya’s eyebrows rose.

            “That’s surprising,” Izaya mumbled, “Perhaps you are thinking of someone else?”

            “Maybe…” Mikado agreed, “So who is this Taihou?” 

            “He leads the gang for members of the Yakuza who escaped,” Izaya explained, “He houses them and in exchange they do as they are told.”

            “Okay…” 

            “…Taihou and Shirozake have another connection, other than the gang,” Izaya said somewhat hesitantly.

            “I figured,” Mikado commented, “You I’m sure.”

            “Yeah,” Izaya agreed, and then sipped his tea. 

            “Taihou’s wife, yes she’s important,” Izaya said when Mikado opened his mouth, “She was mentally unstable for several years of their marriage.”

            “Was?”

            “She’s dead now,” Izaya answered, “Killed herself.”

            “Why?”  Izaya sighed. 

           “She came to me for information and I gave it,” Izaya said, “She wanted to know if her husband was having an affair.”

            “You told her yes?”

            “He was having _several_ affairs.” 

            “She didn’t take that very well I’m assuming.”

            “That’s when everything snapped and she lost it.  Taihou wants revenge against me for it,” Izaya explained.

            “…Then what about Shirozake?  Why was he the one to come to us?”  Mikado asked and Izaya sighed again.  He rubbed his forehead before taking another drink of tea.  When his phone started to ring, Izaya pressed the ignore button and turned the ringer off.  He flipped the phone over so the screen wasn’t showing after he had sent a text. 

            “Shirozake knew who Taihou was as soon as he saw him.  When Taihou’s wife was still alive she was best friends with Shirozake’s sister, whom I was also…acquaintances with.”

            “Right…”

            “When she found out about her best friend’s death…she came to me, knowing that I had given the information to drive her over the edge.  Due to…certain circumstances, and no you don’t need to know about them, she too ended her life and Shirozake has sworn revenge against me as well.”

            “So all this happened over you telling her about the affair?”

            “…It was perhaps the tilting point,” Izaya said.  Mikado shook his head, “So what did Shirozake want?”

            “He ordered us to get close to you and Shizuo-san.  He said that he would contact us again with new instructions,” Mikado instantly said, “I feel that-,” his phone started to vibrate in rapid succession.  A phone call.

            “Ignore it,” Izaya ordered.

            “It’s Masaomi,” Mikado protested, “He never calls me unless it’s important.” Izaya grabbed the phone and slipped it into his own pocket.

            “You feel that…?”  Mikado frowned.

            “I feel that he will come soon to give us new _orders_ ,” Mikado answered, “from what you told me I know nothing good would come from following them.”  The vibrating stopped only to start back up again after a moment. 

            “No, I don’t think anything good will,” Izaya admitted as well.

            “What would you like us to do?”

            “Pretend like you’ll follow them…make it seem earnest too otherwise he’ll see through it,” Izaya returned the phone which was still buzzing.

            “Right…”  Mikado flipped the phone open his eyebrows furling and the gang persona falling, “Masa-,”

          “ _MIKADO_!  _Where_ are _you?  Are you okay?  Why didn’t you answer?  Are you hurt?  Why aren’t you home?”_

            “Masaomi, calm down,” Mikado held the phone away from his ear as Masaomi continued his worried rant, “Masa _omi_ , I’m _fine_.  I’m at Izaya-sans…”

            “ _You call that fine?  What the hell are you doing there without me?”_

            “The last I checked you were talking with Shizuo-san.”

            “ _…are-are you up_ set _that I talk with him?”_

            “I didn’t say that.”

            “ _But it’s what you mean?”_

            “Masaomi, I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Mikado ran a hand through his hair then pinched the skin between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. 

            “ _Just come home.”_

            “I’ll be there later.”

            “ _Mikado…”_

            “I _know_ ,” Mikado sighed, “I’ll be home.”  Mikado shut the phone and gripped it tightly, trying to prevent himself from chucking the thing across the room.  He took in a breath then picked the remainder of his tea up and drained it. 

            “Rough call?”  Izaya asked with a knowing look.  Mikado gave him a dry look before standing.

            “I’m afraid I’ve got to call it a day now,” Mikado said.  Izaya chuckled and accepted the tea cup from Mikado.

            “I’m sure you do,” Izaya said.  He looked Mikado in the eye, “don’t contact me until 24 hours _after_ Shirozake confronts you.  He’ll be suspicious at first and I’m sure he’s got eyes on us even now so be cautious, and for your own sake hold a conversation with someone on your way home just in case.” 

            “…Right.  I’ll do that,” Mikado said as he pulled his coat on and grabbed his bag.  Mikado left the apartment complex and stood in front of the elevator, waiting for it to arrive.  He pulled his phone back out to look at the text he had received earlier.  It was from Masaomi.

            [ _…Shizuo knows about our…situation.  Sorry he’s trickier than I thought…I’ll be home soon and we can talk then_ ]

            Mikado sighed and closed the phone; he wasn’t looking forward to telling Masaomi that Izaya knew too.  The elevator dinged and the doors opened revealing Shizuo.  The man was holding bags of groceries and he looked genuinely surprised to see Mikado.

            “What are you doin’ here?”

            “I was talking with Izaya-san,” Mikado answered, “But I’m going home now…”

 Shizuo looked slightly relived for a moment but his face twisted back up in anxiety a second later, “Alone?”

            “Um, Yes.”

            “Che,” Shizuo spat.  He walked out of the elevator and snagged Mikado by the arm.

            “H-Hey!”  Mikado protested as Shizuo dragged him back into the complex.

            “Oi! Flea!  You were just gonna let this kid walk home alone?!  Did you not get my text?”  Shizuo griped, “I swear if you fucking ignore my phone call again I’m going to kick your ungrateful ass to run all my errands and back.”  Izaya popped his head around the corner.

            “Welcome home!”  The man said cheerfully.

            “Don’t fucking ignore everything I just said!”  Shizuo yelled, “I’m sure you got plenty of fucking information on this kids situation _days_ ago, and you were just going to let him walk home alone?!”

            “No, I was going to let him take the trains,” Izaya said, wiping his hands on a towel. 

            “Izay-yaaa,” Shizuo growled.  Mikado tried to take a step back but Shizuo still had a firm grip on his arm, “this isn’t a fucking game, he could get seriously hurt.” 

            “There are plenty of people out Shizu-chan.  Besides, Mika-chan knows to be careful, stick to well lit places and populated areas.” 

            “I’m not saying he doesn’t but damn it you can’t just leave him to go on his own!”  Shizuo griped.

            “Are you wanting to escort him home?”  Izaya asked, “Won’t that look suspicious when he’s no longer going home normally.”

            “I know but still, better safe than sorry,” Shizuo said still looking angry as he dragged Mikado into the kitchen, seeming to forget he still had a grip on the teens arm. Izaya sighed and ran a hand down his face.

            “Look, it’s no problem,” Mikado said quickly, “I’ll just go home quickly!  I’ll be fine!”  He pressed his hand against Shizuo’s arm trying to get the man to loosen his grip.  Shizuo instantly released Mikado when he realized he still had a tight grip on the child. 

            “No,” Shizuo said sternly, “You’re not going home alone and that’s final.”  Mikado gulped at a loss of what to do, he looked at Izaya.

            “I’ll make a call,” the man said after a moment.  He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text message which was answered quickly, “Consider yourself lucky.  You get a ride home and I don’t have to dragged out and irritated.”

            “A...ride?”  Mikado asked as Izaya sent another text which was responded to just as quickly.

            “Yep,” Izaya looked at Mikado, “My messenger has agreed to help out.”

            “Yeah, cause Celty’s not fucking suspicious,” Shizuo groaned.

            “Celty?” Mikado asked the name sounding vaguely familiar.

            “Ah, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors of the Black Biker?” Izaya grinned.  Mikado tensed up but his eyes filled with excitement. 

            “Yeah…I have…”

            “Good,” Izaya snapped the phone shut, “She’ll be here in about ten minutes.”  Mikado nodded and for the next ten awkward minutes he sat on the informants couch sipping away at more tea while Shizuo smoked on the balcony calming his raging temper that almost had him punching a hole in the wall.  Mikado’s phone buzzed twice and he flipped it open.  A text from Masaomi.

            [ _Where are you?_ ]  Mikado sighed and texted back.

            [ _Shizuo-san didn’t want me to go home alone so Izaya called for a ride…_ ]

            [ _A ride?  Who?_ ]

            [ _Um Shizuo called her Celty, but Izaya says she’s the Black Biker!_ ]

            [ _No way!_ ]  [ _I’m so jealous!_ ] [ _Just be careful kay!_ ]

            [ _Got it.  I’ll be home soon._ ]

            [ _kay…Love you_ ]

            [ _I love you too…_ ]

            Mikado sighed and tucked the phone into his pocket while trying to press down his irritation.  Masaomi was starting to irritate him with the constant questions.  It felt as if Masaomi didn’t trust him to take care of himself.  Although judging from Shizuo’s reaction to hearing he was intending to go home alone, he was sure he wasn’t too far off with his assumption. 

            “Boy problems?” Izaya raised an eyebrow.

            “I wouldn’t call it problems, just a temporary thorn in my side.”

            “Oh-”

            “Oi!” Shizuo’s rough voice interrupted the rest of Izaya’s sentence, “Celty’s here, I’ll take ya down kid.” 

            “Oh, um thank you,” Mikado grabbed his bag and coat.  He gave a casual bow to Izaya before slipping his shoes on and following Shizuo out the door and down to the first floor then out to the street.

            “Hey Celty,” Shizuo greeted gruffly, “Sorry to bug you.”  Mikado glanced around Shizuo with wide eyes to stare at the black clothed dullahan.  The woman (?) was holding a cell phone which had a message typed on it.  When the big helmet turned towards Mikado the phone was taken back and she typed a new message, and then held it out to him. 

            [ _Hello, I’m Celty it’s nice to meet you!_ ]

            “I’m sorry to bother you tonight!” Mikado nearly shouted in nervous anticipation.  The dullahan brought a hand up to the helmet; it seemed like she was laughing. 

            “Introduce yourself you moron,” Shizuo grumbled.

            “I-I-I’m Ry-Ryuugamine Mi-Mikado!”  Celty was laughing again and Shizuo looked amused. 

            [ _Hello Mikado-kun!  Please don’t worry I wasn’t very busy tonight anyway and I’m always glad to help out a friend of Shizuo’s._ ] 

            “Wasn’t it Izaya-san who contacted you?”  Mikado asked confused. The Dullahan nodded. 

            [ _He told me Shizuo was worried about you going home alone, so I really think of this as a favor to Shizuo.  So where are we going?_ ]  Mikado quickly gave her the address.  A black helmet materialized in her hand and she gave it to him.  Amazed Mikado stared at it for a moment, making Celty’s amusement increase.  Shizuo took the helmet and shoved it on Mikado’s head.

            “Get on,” Shizuo grumbled still in a bad mood.  Celty typed a message out for Shizuo then gestured to Mikado to get on the backseat.  Shaking with excitement and nervousness, Mikado climbed on.  Celty put her hand up in a laughing manor again before grabbing Mikado’s hands and wrapping them around her middle.  The teen blushed behind the helmet and kept the hold. 

            I’ll see ya then,” Shizuo said before turning around and heading back into the building.  Celty straightened the bike and kicked the stand up.  Mikado jumped slightly as a whinny came from the bike and before he knew it they were off.  The ride was smooth and quiet, they wove through traffic and Mikado relaxed halfway into the ride.  Soon enough they pulled up to Masaomi’s apartment complex.  Mikado got off the bike, his legs shaking from excitement.

            “Thank you so much!” He bowed, “I really appreciate it!”  Celty shook her head and handed the boy a slip of paper before typing on her phone.

            [ _That’s my number, text if you need anything.  I’ll always answer!]_

            “Thank you!” Mikado gripped the paper tightly vowing not to lose it. 

            [ _I’m sure we’ll see each other again!  So go on and get inside before it gets any later.]_

            “Haha right, thank you!”  Mikado thought that if the rumors were true and she didn’t have her head, then it must have been very difficult for her to see things around her.  Yet perhaps she would be smiling sweetly right now, amused at how often he thanked her.  He waved goodbye and disappeared into the complex.  The whinny’s of a horse were heard before they turned into grunts, becoming more quiet as they got further away. Giddy, he saved the number in his phone before he forgot, or more likely lost the paper.  He hurried to the third floor and opened the door to the apartment he now shared with Masaomi.

            “I’m ho-,” something heavy hit him on the back of the head before he could finish his sentence.  Mikado collapsed to the floor, shiny black shoes near his eyes. 

            “Welcome back little Mikado,” Shirozake knelt to look into Mikado’s dimming eyes, “I’ve come to give the second set of instruction and I must say, you’re performing perfectly already.” A small whimper came from Mikado’s throat before his vision faltered and he lost track of the world. 

**Oh man, I’m so sorry this is MONTHS late!  I wanted to take some time and really figure out my plot (which I have now) and I ended up just putting this off and off and off.  Before I knew it months had passed.  I’ll get an update out much sooner this time promise!  I’m going to try for Problematic Teens as well, for those of you who read it as well.**


	9. Lineage

Chapter 9

# Lineage

**Wow um okay so first things first I guess…I am SO SORRY it has been this long.**

**You all can thank MISSES TSUNDERE for reminding me that I had actually put this up and forgotten about it…not to mention I left you all off on a cliffhanger.  I promise this cliffhanger will be resolved in less than four months…**

**Without further ado…chapter 9 lineage**

                Izaya flicked the surface of his bathwater with his right hand; the left was absentmindedly rubbing his abdomen when the now sealed wound was.  It had begun to heal nicely, still painful when he pulled it in the wrong direction but otherwise good, if not sore.  With a sigh he sunk under the surface of the water and blew bubbles from his nose aggravated.

                With the information he got from Mikado he should have been able to pinpoint exactly what Shirozake was planning but he continually came up blank.  He had run through scenarios that didn’t fit, where something was still missing.  He had run through the facts multiple times while running into dead ends.  His sources couldn’t or perhaps wouldn’t, tell him anything.  On top of all that, he couldn’t even begin to locate Shirozake. 

                It baffled Izaya that the man had gone through incredible lengths to set _something_ up with the two high school boys and just left them all sitting for nearly a month and a half.  The man had yet to show his face _anywhere_ and it his virtual tracks disappeared _four_ months ago.  No one knew where he was, what he was up to, or who his new crowd was.

                Izaya lifted his face above the water to take a breath his mind still churning the facts around.  There was a missing puzzle piece and damn it he needed to find it.  Yet Mikado was the only thing coming to his mind, blocking him from focusing further on his facts.  That utterly intriguing child, who seemed to find his way into everyone else’s trouble would not get _out of his head_.  His infuriating voice floated around the spaces of Izaya’s brain, “ _Taihou; that sounds familiar.”_

                Izaya sat up suddenly, splashing water over the side of the tub.  He was so _stupid_ to dismiss the child like that.  There was no missing piece of information; it was _Mikado_ who was his missing puzzle piece.  There was a connection between the teen and everyone involved.  It was not Mikado finding his way into everyone’s issues but _the other way around_.

                Izaya scrambled out of the tub and hurried out of the bathroom to his computer.  He woke the device from its waiting period and hurriedly clacked away at his keyboard.  He needed to find Mikado’s connection to Taihou.  After that, Izaya was sure that everything would be clear.  It was something subtle, something the teen himself wasn’t aware of. 

                “What the fuck, Izaya,” Shizuo needed to ignored, this was more important at the moment, “At least dry yourself off before getting on those damn things.” 

                Someone had to know, someone had to of posted something about the teen, perhaps the boy himself.  Izaya switched to a different monitor to search through the IP address of every computer that Mikado had ever been known to use while he waited for his supplier to reply. 

                “Are you even fucking listening?” 

                Izaya switched to a third monitor to search through the entire Ryuugamine family’s web history.  He switched to the first monitor where his supplier had replied to him. With a sound of irritation Izaya pressed the man for more information.  He had to know _something_ that could help narrow down searches. 

Suddenly the monitors were moving away as a pressure was formed around his waist.  Panicked Izaya tried to save the monitors as they seemed to fall to the side then, up?  Izaya looked sharply to the left and saw black pants.  He cursed loudly.

                “Let me go Shizuo!  I’m _busy_.” 

                “At least dry yourself off before throwing yourself into your fucking work.  The last damn thing you need is a fucking cold.” 

                “Damn it!  Let me go!  This is _important_!”  Izaya struggled to remove Shizuo’s fingers as he was carried away from the beeping of his computer.  His source had _replied_ they might have _something_.  He was simply carried upstairs before Shizuo was forcefully drying him off with a towel from the closet, “I’m dry now!  Let go!”  Shizuo popped a cigarette in his mouth before pushing Izaya down on the bed and holding up boxers.  With a frustrated growl Izaya threw the boxers on and tried to leave.  A shirt and pants were thrust in his direction. 

                “Fucking-,” Izaya pulled the pants on and grabbed the shirt on his way out of the room.  He pulled it on while rushing down the stairs and hurrying to clack away at his computer.  In his haste to get to the computer he accidentally kicked the chair away.  Izaya cursed but quickly scanned over the message.  There was a link to go with it and Izaya clicked on it.  It was the kids birth certificate.  Izaya sighed he knew he had asked for everything but this was ve-ry…bas-ic. 

                Numbly Izaya stopped the searches on his other monitors and quickly searched the material he had looked up for Taihou’s wife all those years ago.  He opened the folder marked with the names of the women who Taihou had affairs with.  The mothers name on the birth certificate matched the third name on the list.  Izaya’s heart nearly fluttered with the excitement of success.  He needed to make sure of this fact and on the third monitor he started another search for something that any mother who had been sleeping with two different men would make.  Ryuugamine Mikado had a paternal test as a baby and the results were clear.

                Ryuugamine Mikado was in fact Taihou-Kimi Mikado. 

                His computer binged again and he looked to the web chat.  Izaya re-read the information.  Shirozake had finally struck and his target had been the very source of Izaya’s searches.  His supplier had sent him a pixilated picture of Shirozake with a familiar teenage boy over his shoulder. Izaya pressed his source for information on where this was seen.  Of course his source was done for the night and pressed Izaya to figure it out for himself. 

Izaya quickly searched for any background identifiers.  His heart skipped a beat when he found one and Izaya quickly hacked into computer systems to get video footage.  He had to program the codes to make the cameras show him a previous time, which was taxing on his fingers and the clock, but do-able.  He finally located the direction that Shirozake was heading after shoving the unconscious teen in the car.

                Izaya skipped ahead a couple of blocks to see where Shirozake would turn, confused when the car was gone.  Izaya hacked into another system and backtracked.  Shirozake had stopped when they had passed Kida on the way out.  They had both teens now.  Izaya cursed softly and followed the car to its current location then erased all traces of his virtual footprint.  He quickly put the computers to sleep and grabbed his jacket off of his spinny chair. 

                “Shizu-chan!”  Izaya yelled, “We’re heading out!” 

\------------- ------------------ -----------

                His body felt as if it were in a large body of water and like he was wearing several layers of clothing weighed down by the water.  Trying to move his arm was impossible but a finger was do-able.  Turning his head was also impossible and at the time so was trying to open his eyes.  Voices coming from the metaphorical surface of the water were distorted and hard to understand.  

                Slowly, ever so slowly, he started to rise from the water and with it came the realization that his head _hurt_.  It felt as if elephants had trampled upon his cranium in a fit to get the last peanut.  Voicing his pain only succeeded in coming out as a groan and a finger twitch.  The distorted voices were clearing up and finally after hard listening he was able to determine the one word being spoken,

                “Mikado!” 

                Oh that was his name, he was Mikado.  The voice sounded worried and Mikado wondered if he really _was_ underwater for a moment.  Another self assessment involved actually touching his fingers together and realizing they weren’t wet.  If he was underwater would he even feel wet or would he feel normal? 

Mikado peeled his eyes open to get a better look at his surroundings and winced at the harshness that was light.  It stabbed at his eyes taking away any false comfort.  With it came the pounding of his heart and shortness of breath as well as making the pounding in his head more intense. 

                “ugh,” Mikado groaned again his breath quickening with panic.  Where the hell was he?  The last thing he remembered was being excited over getting Celty’s phone number then he was going to share it with Masaomi. 

                Oh Masaomi, that’s who was calling his name!  Good he was here, Mikado could explain how wonderful it was that he got _The_ Black Biker’s number.  Mikado giggled a bit and struggled to turn his head to the direction of Kida’s voice.  After a massive fight, Mikado managed to flip his head and shoulders to the other side.  He spotted the teen and gave him a crooked grin,

                “I got _Celty’s_ number, Masaomi,” Mikado giggled wondering why Masaomi looked so _horrified_.  Oh, he probably only knew her as Black Biker and hearing that Mikado got the number of a girl would have been upsetting.  Frowning Mikado clarified, “Noooo not like _that_!  She’s _Black Biker_!”  Mikado grinned again and he felt something on his face.  He forced a heavy hand up to touch his face and it took him a moment to focus on the slimy liquid on his fingers. 

                Oh it was blood.  Mikado giggled again, it probably looked really funny on his face while he was smiling.  But why was there blood on his face?  His pounding head reiterated itself again and then Mikado remembered.  He had been smacked on the head as soon as he came home.  Oh _god_ he had been abducted!  It was probably a _stalker_ and they had _Masaomi_ too! 

                Mikado forced his body to move, it was dangerous here.  The room spun and he fell heavily onto his side vomit rising in his throat and spilling over his cheek.  Okay, bad idea.  Mikado moved slowly this time and he forced his tired body against a wall to lean on.  The room still spun but not as violently and it didn’t make him vomit. 

                “Masaomi, are you okay?”  Mikado asked, working hard to force his arm to swipe against his mouth clearing it of vomit and blood. 

                “Am-Am _I_ okay?  Seriously Mikado who the hell do you think is hurt?”  Masaomi griped.  He tried to move forward but a clank sounded as Masaomi was jerked backwards.  Mikado squinted to get a good look through his bleary vision.  Masaomi was chained to the wall. 

                “What happened?” Mikado asked while tenderly touching his head.

                “I don’t _know_.  One minute I’m walking home from getting _milk_ and the next I’m being shoved into a car with you unconscious in the back seat!” 

                “Who…” Mikado trailed off as he remembered Shirozake’s voice before the blankness, “He said something about the second part of his plan going into motion.”  Mikado rubbed his face and wiped the blood from his lips onto his school pants that he had yet to change out of. 

                “Shirozake?” 

                “Yeah,” Mikado sighed, “Is my mouth bleeding or is there a cut on my face that’s bleeding to my mouth?”  He opened his mouth and Masaomi winced. 

                “Your lip is cut,” Masaomi said.

                “Hurts,” Mikado admitted before forcing himself to his hands and knees. 

                “Don’t strain yourself!”  Masaomi protested, pulling against the chains while Mikado crawled.  Mikado ignored Masaomi as he flopped over to lie on his back panting, with his arm over Masaomi’s leg. 

                “You think I can get those off?”  Mikado asked pointing to the cuffs.

                “Er, probably.  I think there’s a latch that you could get…”

                “Why would they do that?” Mikado asked as he struggled to his knees to fumble with the latch that released Masaomi quickly, “seems counterproductive.”  

                “Er…I may have broke someone’s nose and possibly cracked a few ribs on the way in,” Masaomi chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head.

                “So they’re what?  Waiting for me to wake up or for you to calm down?”  Mikado asked, grateful as Masaomi helped support his weight. 

                “Probably both,” Masaomi said as he ran his fingers across Mikado’s scalp. 

                “Ow,” Mikado hissed, “Don’t touch that.” 

                “Sorry,” Masaomi pulled his fingers away from the large lump, “you probably have a concussion though…”

                “Probably,” Mikado sighed relaxing against Masaomi’s body, “since the room hasn’t stopped wobbling and I still feel like vomiting over everything, I’d say a concussion is pretty spot on.” 

                “We’ve gotta get you out of here,” Masaomi said worriedly.

                “They leave your cell phone on you?”  Mikado asked after patting his empty pocket.

                “Che, no,” Masaomi answered.

                “Ugh,” Mikado groaned as his head spun and his stomach churned, “well I guess we gotta figure something else out.” 

                “Are you okay?”  Masaomi asked quietly.

                “No, I have a concussion,” Mikado sighed, “keep me distracted, this is awful.” 

                “How?”

                “I dunno tell me what happened while I was out.”

                “Um they blindfolded me after they threw me in the car so I have no idea _where_ we are.  Like I said, when they were ‘escorting’ us in I got a few good hits in.  They put us in here and Shirozake said he’d be back after getting a VIP here.  I’m assuming it’s more of a general _here_ rather than a dinky cell.”

                “Cell…” Mikado tasted the word and let it bounce around his head, unwilling to open his eyes to look at the room which he was sure was still spinning, “is it worn or somewhat new looking?”

                “There’s mold in the corner,” Masaomi answered.

                “So it’s abandoned?”

                “Probably.” 

                “How long were you in the car?” Mikado asked pulling up a map of the surrounding area of Masaomi’s apartment.

                “I don’t know,” Masaomi sighed, “Long enough to get out of the neighborhood and short enough to not be in the next town.  I’ve been pulling scenarios and maps, alleyways and off road areas and I have no _idea_ where this place is.” 

                “I got nothing too,” Mikado answered after a moment.

                “I’m sure we’ll have people on our trail soon enough,” Masaomi said filling the new silence.

                “Yeah?”

                “Yeah, you got my text right?  Shizuo knows about our situation…crafty bastard took a few points from Orihara.  He’ll be suspicious if I don’t text him tonight and he’ll know something’s up when we don’t show up after school tomorrow.” 

                “Mmmm, speaking of Izaya-san,” Mikado started, “he knows too.”

                “…I figured he would figure it out.”

                “Yeah but I got some information on Shirozake too,” Mikado said while cracking an eye open.  At Masaomi’s curious look he told him everything he knew about his sister and the story of her death as well as her relation to Taihou, “So if all that’s true I bet you our VIP is Taihou himself.” 

                “Fuck,” Masaomi gripped Mikado’s shoulders tightly, “I’ll get us out of here I fucking _swear_ it.”  Mikado’s faint smile fell from his face as they heard a clanking noise and a curse.  The door to the cell slid open and an unfamiliar man rushed in.  His nose was purple and dried blood was cracking against his nostril as it flared out in response to seeing Masaomi. 

                “Yob,” he pointed to Mikado, “ub dow.” 

                “I have a concussion, you know,” Mikado said as he shut his eyes again.  Kida jumped slightly in shock.  Mikado was rarely so bold.

                “ _Mi_ kado,” Masaomi hissed in confusion.  The concussion had to of been worse than he first thought.

                “Don’d care. Ged ub.” 

                “What do you want with him?” Masaomi demanded.

                “Not whad I want brat,” the man sneered, “Ib’s what the boss wants.  He’s combing with bme and you’re stayin’ here…at least until I combe back for you.”  His voice promised pain and Kida knew he was being threatened with revenge; broken noses were not taken lightly apparently. 

                “Alright, alright,” Mikado sighed.  He used Masaomi’s shoulder as a clutch and stood despite Masaomi’s protests, “Well?” 

                “Bell what?”  The man snapped as Mikado held his free hand out, the other braced on Masaomi’s shoulder.  

                “I’m a little unbalanced at the moment,” Mikado gave a sheepish grin, “a little help?”  The man groaned and stomped over, taking Mikado roughly by the arm.  He shoved Masaomi back down when the teen tried to rise.

                “Not youb.” 

                “I’m not letting him go alone!”  Masaomi protested, trying to rise again.  He was shoved back down to his knees then kicked to the ground.

                “Okay, Okay,” Mikado shuffled around to be in the middle of the two, “He’s staying, I’m going.” 

                “No!” Masaomi protested with a cough and a hand clutching at his chest.

                “Yes,” Mikado gave him a pointed look, “I’ll be fine,” he said as he was manhandled out of the room. 

The door was slid back into place and locked before Mikado was forced down a dreary hallway.  His vision was wavering again and he wasn’t entirely confident in his ability to keep the contents of his stomach down.  Luckily the trip was short and he was forced into a chair in the middle of the room. 

                “Ah and here he is,” Mikado shivered as he recognized the voice of Shirozake.

                “What exactly are you trying to pull here?”  That voice Mikado didn’t recognize.  However when his vision cleared up and he was able to distinguish shapes clearly the man looked oddly familiar, like looking in a funny mirror at the amusement park.  The colors and features of his face were there, but distorted.  Mikado gave a hard, prolonged blink; the concussion must be more severe than he thought.  

                “You can leave,” Shirozake shooed the man with the broken nose away.  Mikado lightly rubbed his forehead trying to clear his thoughts and concentrate, “Now Mikado-kun, listen carefully because this is important.”  Mikado lifted his head as a hand settled on his shoulder.

                “Shirozake what is this child _doing_ here?  He’s not Orihara.  You _said_ -,”

                “Yes, yes all in due time.  For now let me talk old man.”

                “Old-,”

                “Now, Mikado-kun, you may be wondering who that is,” Shirozake grinned widely and clutched Mikado’s shoulder, “most people call him Taihou-sama…some aren’t even privileged enough to shorten his last name and they must call him Taihou-Kimi-Sama.  Now there are others who are very few in numbers and they are allowed to call him by his first name, Masahiro.”

                “Masahiro….Taihou-kimi…” Mikado whispered the name and pressed a hand to his forehead.  _Why_ did that sound so familiar. 

                “Yes, yes, very good.  Now I know your head hurts but keep up with me,” Shirozake pinched Mikado’s chin between his thumb and middle finger, as the pointer on his right was missing and the stub useless for lifting faces, “are you still listening?”

                “Yes,” Mikado answered confused at what any of this had to do with him.

                “Good.  Now there are an even fewer bunch allowed to call him more intimate things and most of them are long dead now.  However, there is only _one_ being allowed to call him something that no one else in the _world_ can call him.  Do you know what that name would be?  What would that one person call him?” 

                “I-I don’t know,” Mikado said with a slight headshake.  Everything was so confusing.  He didn’t understand why any of this was relevant and by the looks of it, Taihou didn’t either. 

                “Alright I’ll tell you.  There is only one person in the entire world allowed to call him _daddy_.”

                “Daddy, what are you talking about?” Taihou demanded his form jerking as his voice escalated, “I don’t have children!”  Mikado finally realized that the man’s arms had been restrained and his legs strapped to the chair he was sitting on.  _What_ was going _on_?  Mikado’s heart started to race.

                “Yes, Masahiro-chan has a child that he doesn’t even know about…no…scratch that.  He knows.  He was informed by a woman by the name of Hishida Hiromi that he had a daughter.”

                “Hiromi…” Mikado frowned confused.  Hiromi was his mother’s name and he wasn’t certain if her maiden name was Hishida but it _did_ ring bells.

                “Of course a girl couldn’t carry on the line of work that our Masahiro-chan does!  So he put little Mika-chan out of his mind while Hiromi fled to the countryside to raise her child.  But there’s a twist!” Shirozake sang, “Little Mika-chan was actually a boy the whole time!  One who wasn’t allowed to leave his small hometown in fear that his real daddy would find him!”

                “A boy…” Taihou muttered his eyes wide and wanting.  Mikado’s heart raced in his chest, he tried to convince himself it wasn’t going where he thought, and it was a futile battle.

                “That’s right!  Little Mika-chan was actually Mika _do_ - _kun_.  Hiromi-chan married a Ryuugamine and changed little Mikado’s name and tried to keep him as sheltered as she possibly could.  After all what mother wants to see their only child grow up to be a gang leader?  Although, it looks like she failed there,” Shirozake laughed, “So Mikado-kun say hello to daddy!” 

                “My dad…my dad died…” Mikado protested weakly. 

                “Oh no, no, no your _step_ -daddy died.  Look your real daddy is right here!” 

                “My… _son_?” Taihou’s eyes beamed with pride and he tried to bring up a restrained hand. 

                “Now you can thank your daddy for _everything_ that’s going to come to you!” Shirozake laughed, “Because your daddy had an affair with your mommy and daddy’s wife found out about it and killed herself, and then something worse happened.  Would you like to know?”

                “No…” Mikado whimpered.  He tried to rise but Shirozake kept him down.

                “Shh, don’t say that.  I’ll tell you!”  Shirozake’s smile dropped and his face became serious, “because his wife was best friends with a certain innocent girl, who had a hard time telling reality from fantasy, she affected certain _lives_.  _Because_ daddy caused his wife’s death by cheating, that started a chain reaction and the innocent girl killed herself too.  Do you know who that little girl was?” 

                “ _No_ ,” Mikado tried to say it firmly.  He didn’t want to hear it.

                “No?  She was my life, my joy, and pride.  My baby sister died because daddy couldn’t keep it in his pants!”  Shirozake screamed, “And now daddy has to suffer too.  Daddy has to lose something important before I can kill Orihara and complete my revenge.  If things go right I get to accomplish all of that tonight.  Orihara should have caught on by now.”

                “No!  Shirozake don’t!  He’s my son!”  Taihou screamed.

                “How can you just believe him?” Mikado found himself yelling, “This whole thing could be a lie!” 

                “Oh no,” Shirozake shook his head, “I’ve made sure I got the right child.  You see.”  He dug around in his pocket until he pulled out a piece of paper that had two DNA samples lined up.

                “That could be anyones-,”

                “No, no!  I took it when I delivered little Kida-kun to you.  A hair of yours right from your head!  You didn’t even notice,” Shirozake plucked another hair from his head, “and daddy has been here the whole time.  He was easy enough to get something from.  I made sure to get the right child because I don’t want any more innocents to get hurt.” 

                “Aren’t I an innocent?” Mikado asked his heart racing profusely.

                “Any child of his can never be innocent,” Shirozake said sternly, “Now let’s begin.”  

\-------- ----- ----

                “Izaya what the hell are we doing?” Shizuo growled.

                “Shh,” Izaya snapped, “whisper if you feel the need to talk but as I _told_ you-,”

                “You didn’t tell me anything!  You told me ‘ _we’re heading out’_ and you left, leaving me to chase you across the goddamn city.”

                “…fine,” Izaya sighed, “They have Mikado-kun and Kida-kun here.”

                “Celty took Mikado home and _I_ took Masaomi home,” Shizuo grumbled, “They’re fine.”

                “They aren’t.  I searched the footage myself,” Izaya whispered as he ducked around a corner and signaled to Shizuo to come as well.  The man waltzed around the corner normally throwing a look at Izaya, “they’ve been taken and the trail was way too easy to sniff out.  This is a trap set for me.”  Izaya was jerked back by the hood of his jacket.

                “Then you stay behind me,” Shizuo said roughly, “I’ll be your shield.”

                “You _aren’t_ invincible Shizu-chan!”

                “No but I’m a hell of a lot more sturdy than you are,” Shizuo stated, “tell me where I need to go.” Izaya sighed but pointed to the right.  He had pulled up the blueprints of the abandoned building, but where the two teens were being held could have been on any floor in any hallway.  Right now it was a matter of going to the place with the least amount of decay. 

                Shizuo led the way following Izaya’s directions until they heard a grunt of pain.  Unsure of whose it was, they proceeded carefully, edging down the hallway looking out for anyone trying to spot them.  There was the sound of chain rattling and a yelp that sounded vaguely familiar. 

                “That’s Masaomi,” Shizuo grunted.

                “Wait,” Izaya grabbed Shizuo’s arm before he could go charging down the hall, “quietly Shizu-chan.  We have the element of surprise on our hands.”  Shizuo frowned but continued with less noise. 

When they came upon the golden haired teen, he was strangling a full grown man with chains that were attached to a wall.  The youth’s nose was bleeding and dripping into his mouth and the man was trying to buck him away and pull the chain off.  Kida merely adjusted his grip and continued to pull.  Izaya looked closely at the man and noticed a hand blade sticking out of his shoulder. 

                “It seems we didn’t need to worry about this one at all,” Izaya said after the man had passed out, he leaned against the frame of the cell. Kida whipped around pulling the hand blade from the unconscious mans shoulder before Shizuo put up his hands in defense.

                “Just us, kid.”

                “Why the _hell_ did you even know to come this soon?!” Kida grumbled, wiping the blood off his blade with the man’s shirt, “No fucking, scratch that.  I don’t want to know.”  He sniffed and wiped his bloody nose against the sleeve of his jacket.

                “Nice to see you too,” Izaya grinned.

                “Did you find Mikado?” Kida growled while pushing his way between them and going down the hall in the direction that Mikado was taken.

                “Nope,” Izaya said, “but I’m sure he can handle himself.  You did pretty well there.”

                “He’s got a fucking concussion.  He can’t even walk on his own right now,” Kida protested a fire in his eyes that had been absent for years.  Izaya noticed the teens hand was twitching for the band of his pants.  Another look revealed there was no weapon but that he probably used to carry one in that spot. 

                “Fuck,” Shizuo spat and pushed his way into the front.  He began rushing ahead peaking into doors and rooms that were on the way.   They came to the last door in the hall and Kida pushed his way to the front, only to be brought back by Shizuo.  Kida slapped the man’s hand from his shoulder and gave him a hard glare that hadn’t been present on the teens face since he was young and inexperienced. 

                “Back off,” Kida snapped.  Experience only briefly overran the rage when he grabbed a heavy object from the ground and threw it first after opening the door.  It hit the guard on the head knocking him unconscious.  The lack of an instantaneous response meant there wasn’t a second guard and the lack of sound proved that there were no guns or they were being saved. 

                Kida pushed through the door against Shizuo’s command to stay behind him.  His rage ignited in full when he saw Mikado being held up by his hair, face bloodied and eyes hard in cold anger.  He flicked his knife out into attack position and screamed once preparing to charge when he was taken clear off the ground by the back of his jacket.

                “I _said_ stay behind me!” Shizuo snapped.  He dropped Kida behind him and Izaya leaned on the teen before he could take off again.

                “I’d do as he says,” Izaya grinned, “Shizu-chan can get a bit monstrous when he’s angry.  You can always tell cause he’ll crush something…see….there go his sunglasses.” 

                Shizuo was in the middle of a charge when Mikado’s body was held up as a human shield a knife held to his neck.  Shizuo stopped instantly and Kida tried to jerk away from Izaya who was now holding him back.  Mikado blinked slowly before glancing over at the weeping Taihou.  He let his gaze slide back over to Masaomi who was fighting hard against Izaya.

                “Damn it! Let me go!”  Kida raised the hand holding the knife and brought it down to stab the informant’s leg.  Izaya was quick and caught Kida’s wrist then twisted the whole arm behind the rash teen’s back.

                “Calm down,” Izaya ordered, “You’re just going to get him killed.  Don’t make me force you to drop the knife.  We both know you’re going to need it later.”  Izaya briefly tightened his grip on Kida’s wrist making his fingers loose strength until Kida stopped resisting.  He released the pressure but kept the hold.  He moved them out of the doorway and into a more secure position as they watched Shizuo struggle to wait for a proper time to attempt a rescue.

                “Get him!  Please save him!  He’s my son!”  All eyes turned to Taihou who was resisting his restraints.

                “What the fuck are you on?!”  Kida yelled, “Mikado isn’t your fucking _son!_ ”

                “Be careful what you say Kida-kun,” Izaya warned, “It’s true.”  Kida turned with wide eyes to Mikado who gave a sheepish grin.

                “Ha!  That’s right!” Shirozake yelled, “Now step back!  No child of that man’s is allowed to live!”

                “He’s lost it,” Izaya sighed, “I suppose mental disorders do run in the family.  Here I was thinking he’d last longer too.” 

                “This isn’t a _game_!” Kida hissed, “Mikado is in danger!”  The black haired teen gave another smile, this one apologetic. 

                “Sorry Masaomi,” Mikado said his voice a lot stronger than he looked, “I guess it’s time to share some of my secrets.”  In an instant, Mikado had flipped his body around and slammed his leg into the back of Shirozake’s knees.  The knife barely scraped his throat, creating a thin line of blood that mixed with the rest of the liquid.  Mikado made a fist with one hand and pressed his other palm against the fist, before using his arm to push his elbow into Shirozake’s forehead.  

                It was clear the extra movement had taken its toll on the teen, who was stumbling and trying very hard to find something to stabilize himself with.  He didn’t resist as Shizuo scooped him up and carried him away from the danger zone.  Shirozake was not moving from his position on the ground and Shizuo seemed to understand the importance of getting Mikado to a hospital.  He grabbed ran straight out the door, ignoring Taihou and Shirozake in favor of getting the disoriented teen help. 

                Kida and Izaya were on his tail instantly.  Izaya darted out in front of him with his blade drawn and he quickly took down the same man that Kida had knocked unconscious before.  Shizuo didn’t look back to see the damage, he knew he didn’t want to.  He leapt over an obstruction and let Izaya lead him out of the abandoned building and to the nearest hospital.  He just hoped they didn’t ask too many questions.  It was times like this when he wished that Shinra had equipment like CAT scans. 

\------- ----- ------ ----

                “Don’t be angry Celty,” Shinra begged as he sat outside the Dullahan’s bedroom door, his laptop propped up on his knees, “Please talk to me.”  He refreshed the chat box they had open just to make sure he hadn’t missed something.  _Finally_ the small pencil on the bottom of the chat box started moving.

                _{Every time we plan a date night you choose your patients over me.  How am I supposed to feel?}_

_{I’m Sorry!  She was bleeding out but I’m here now!  We can set up that movie you wanted to watch…no aliens at all, I promise.}_

_{…So I’m just going to lose to every girl who comes to your door, bleeding?  You don’t have to help them!  There’s a hospital eight blocks away!}_

                Shinra sighed; of course Celty’s jealous streak had chosen that moment to rise up.  Why oh why did it have to be a female patient. 

                _{You’ll always be my number one.}_

_{…Not tonight Shinra.}_

                Celty left the chat and Shinra ran a hand through his hair before sending her a few more messages and shutting the lid to his laptop.  She would calm down in a few hours.  It wouldn’t take long, besides he knew Celty still wanted to watch that movie.  She had been so excited.  As he stood and replaced his laptop in the living room, his pager went off.  With a very deep sigh, Shinra read it and went back to Celty’s door.  Perhaps he would see her tomorrow.

                “Celty…I know this is bad timing but I got another call…I’ll be back later okay?  We can try again next week!”  He looked at his phone, no response, “I’ll text you.”  

                He grabbed his emergency bag and shoved his feet in his shoes before heading out and going to the building where most of his patients that were too sick to go back on the streets were at.  It was the lower level of that building where he met new patients as he didn’t want them to know where he lived.  He hurried to the room startled when several people were there looking as if they had just been in a fight.

                “Ahh Kishitani-sensei, I’m glad you could come on such short notice,” the first man said.  Shinra’s gaze instantly went to the man’s right hand as he noticed an abnormality, a missing finger. 

                “Well my evening was ruined hours ago so I have some spare time,” Shinra answered, “is it just the injured here or should I expect more?” He joked lightly while cracking open his bag.

                “Oh well these gentlemen will be just fine, they are here for my protection,” the man answered, “The man in real danger is off of this site, I have a car waiting.”

                “You should have told my assistant it was off sight,” Shinra shut his bag, “I would have met you there.”

                “Well as I understand your driver is the Black Biker, no?” The man asked, “She isn’t allowed to know the location.  Something I’m sure an underground doctor such as yourself would understand.”

                “What are you up to?”

                “Nothing at all, I’m simply in need of a doctor who can keep secrets and won’t report our group to the police, “It really is quite urgent doctor, so if we could please go.”

                “I apologize but my driver _must_ accompany me to any off site location.”

                “We have transportation ready for you,” the man said sternly.

                “I insist,” Shinra said sternly.  He would not go anywhere without Celty.  It was for his own protection that he had someone to back him up.

                “ _I_ Insist,” Shirozake echoed.  The men around them shifted as if waiting on orders and the hair on the back of Shinra’s neck prickled.  This was not good.  Shinra took a step backwards and bumped into the chest of one of the men. 

                “…” Shinra shuffled away.

                “I assure you, we will only need your services for a little while,” the man said while placing the hand with the missing finger in his back pocket.

                “I really must insist on my driver,” Shinra answered his hand itching for his cell phone.

                “I’m not taking no for an answer Kishitani-sensei,” He sighed, “you may come willingly or you can be forced.  Either way you will accompany us.” Shinra’s hesitation did not show; he masked his face over with the determination to stay and to contact. His. Driver.  He knew this man couldn’t be trusted, not with the way this meeting was going, and leaving alone with him was going to be a bad idea.

                “Very well then,” the man said with a look of sorrow on his face, “You know what to do.”  With that the men crowded around the meek doctor who was putting up his meager fists in retaliation.  He was grabbed behind in a bear hug and as he tried to break the grip he felt something slide under his skin by his elbow.  A sharp pain followed as he was injected with something that made his eyes burn instantly with fatigue.  He was pushed to walk and he stumbled down stairs, out the building, down a patch of sidewalk, and into a waiting car where he promptly passed out.

 


	10. Gang War

Chapter 10

# Gang War

**Well this is it ya'll!  It's been a fun ride and I'm glad you all stuck with it!  This is the last chapter!**

**I hope you all like it!**

                Shizuo groaned and turned over and wrapped an arm around Izaya’s sleeping form.  With the other he reached out for the informant’s phone and fumbled with it.  His vision was blurry but he knew the layout well enough to navigate to the alarm disable section.  Shizuo blinked in confusion when there was no option to disable an alarm, as one had never been set.  Yet he could hear an insistent noise which usually signaled that it was time to wake up and after only getting a few hours of sleep; that was not something Shizuo was inclined to do. 

                As his groggy mind cleared, Shizuo realized it was the sound of pounding at the door that woke him.  He thought about ignoring the person and going back to sleep but at this rate the person would wake his dumb flea and a cranky flea was almost as bad as a cranky Shizuo.  With a long sigh, Shizuo carefully got out of bed and pulled his boxers on and made his way downstairs. 

He threw open the door ready to give the person there a piece of his mind, when a bright screen was flashed in front of his face and Shizuo was momentarily blinded.  It was then that he realized this was _Izaya’s_ apartment and he had probably gotten a lot of pissed off people coming to his place at two in the morning to try and off him; and Shizuo had been dumb enough to let them in.

  It was only when he recovered from the shock of the bright light that he realized it was no enemy, it was Celty’s PDA screen and Celty herself was shifting restlessly on her feet.  He ran a hand down his face and shifted his weight feeling more secure.  He blinked and the bright light was back in his face. 

“Celty wait,” Shizuo grunted as she moved the screen closer to his face, “that’s too damn close.”  He pulled it away and his heart stuttered in his chest. 

                [ _Shinra’s missing!_ ]

                “Wait, what?”  Shizuo blinked at the words, “what happened?”  He ushered her into the apartment and closed the door behind her. 

                [ _He told me he had a call for a patient but when I went to check in with him he wasn’t even at the office._ ]

                “He probably went off site,” Shizuo suggested.  He dug through the pile of clothes on the ground until he found his phone. 

                [ _He_ never _goes off site without me.  It’s too dangerous_ ]

                “Okay let me just try calling him first,” Shizuo said as he dialed Shinra’s number.  It went straight to voicemail.  Instantly Shizuo knew something was wrong, Shinra never turned his phone off, period, “shit,” Shizuo cursed.  He hurried up the stairs and flicked the light on in the bedroom, instantly waking Izaya.

                “What the hell Shizu-chan?” 

                “Celty is here and Shinra’s gone missing,” Shizuo explained while pulling on pants, “I’m going to help her look for them.  I’ve got a really bad feeling about this so you _stay_ here.” 

                “I’ll go!” Izaya protested before sitting up.

                “No, stay here and try and see if you can figure out what happened.”

                “My, my, are you really telling me to do my job?  The one that you _hate_?”

                “Don’t push it,” Shizuo growled, “Just do it and let me know what you find.” 

                “You better check up on our kiddies too,” Izaya yawned, “who knows if they’re apart of this too.” 

                “You think it’s Shirozake?”

                “Who _else_ would it be Shizuo?”  Shizuo frowned and pulled his shirt on before kissing Izaya, hard. 

                “I’ll be back later.”

                “Mmhum.” 

                “Make sure you have your damn phone on you!  I’m still checking in,” Shizuo yelled as he rushed out the door with Celty, “Izaya says to check on Ryuugamine and Kida while he tries to figure out what happened,” Shizuo explained as they hurried to the first floor and out to Celty’s waiting transportation.  Celty handed Shizuo a helmet and he shoved it on his head before he climbed onto the back of the bike. 

                Within minutes they were at the hospital where they had last left Mikado, who was being held overnight.  With any luck, Shizuo figured that Kida would be there too.  He was stuck on the, what next, he wasn’t sure if he needed to involve the two boys or if he could leave them and know that they would be safe.  Hopefully Izaya would have gotten somewhere by this point. 

                As Shizuo barreled past the night shift workers and headed to Mikado’s room, he pulled his phone out and dialed for Izaya.  There was no answer.  Frowning, Shizuo sent a text and some of his anxieties were settled as he got a response.  Yet when he called again and there was still no answer, suspicion began to rise. 

                [ _Why aren’t you answering?]_ Shizuo texted. 

                [ _Can’t talk on the phone and research at the same time, Shizuo._ ] He supposed it made sense but it still pissed him off. 

                [ _I don’t give a damn._ ] Shizuo smashed the letters down angrily. _[Answer when I call]_

                [ _no_ ]  Shizuo burst through the door of Mikado’s room and stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the noise of a guns safety being turned off.  Shizuo instantly prevented Celty from entering the room and he crouched into an attacking position. 

                “Wait, Shizuo?”  The voice was familiar and as Shizuo’s eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he was able to make out Kida’s form.  The gun was lowered and the safety clicked back on before the weapon was stashed back into the teen’s waistband, “what are you doing here?”    

                “Celty would you?” Shizuo asked as he flipped his phone open again and dialed for Izaya.  Celty nodded and stepped forward, explaining the situation through the PDA.  Shizuo put the phone to his ear as he stood next to the slumbering Mikado.  Izaya didn’t pick up. 

                [ _Flea what the fuck. Answer._ ]

                [ _busy_ ] Shizuo frowned, something wasn’t right.  Even on his most annoying days Izaya wouldn’t disregard three phone calls, even if he was busy.  The short responses were abnormal as well.  Izaya usually added in insults when he was frustrated and there was nothing remotely insulting in the texts.  Shizuo’s heart sank and his stomach flipped around as he realized the trap they had just walked into. 

                “We have to go back,” Shizuo grunted, “They’ve got Izaya.”  Celty cocked her head and held up her PDA.

                [ _We were just with him…_ ]

                “I know but he’s not acting right.  He won’t pick up the phone and his texts don’t sound right,” Shizuo said, “how well is he?”  Shizuo gestured to Mikado and Kida frowned.

                “The doctor wanted to keep him overnight just in case, but he said a few hours of sleep would get rid of the nausea and dizziness,” Kida answered.  

                “Good,” Shizuo grunted, “he’s coming with us.” 

                “You can’t just- HEY,” Kida yelled as Shizuo pulled the heart monitor suction off of Mikado’s chest, “ _Shizuo_ what the hell?!” 

                “Shirozake has something planned and I’m not going to leave anyone behind to get hurt,” Shizuo answered as he pulled Mikado onto his back and wrapped the teen’s arms around his neck, “So start walking before I force you out too.”  Kida gulped but hurried out the door with Celty and Shizuo on his heels. 

                [ _My horse can’t take us all._ ]

                “I know,” Shizuo answered to the PDA’s bright screen, “I’ll get the three of us back to Shibuya and you try and figure out where Shinra is.  I’ll text you if I figure something out.”  Celty nodded and they snuck past the night crew and exited the hospital. 

                “Great,” Kida groaned, “How are we going to get anywhere?  Not like I can drive and _you_ don’t have a car.” 

                “Shut up,” Shizuo snapped, “Just take him for a minute and don’t go anywhere.”  He slid Mikado from his back and let Kida take him.  Shizuo gave a wave goodbye to Celty before he punched the window of a car out.  Thankful for the lack of an alarm system, he ignored Kida’s protests and hotwired the vehicle and got in the divers seat.

                “I’m _not_ going to-,”

                “Get. In.” Shizuo demanded.

                “Right, of course!”  Kida laughed nervously.  He shimmed into the back with Mikado’s head on his lap.  He shut the door of the car and put on his seatbelt as Shizuo slammed on the gas, “What’s going on?” Kida demanded from the back as they whipped around a stray car.

                “Shirozake is striking back.  Pretty sure he’s got Izaya and Shinra now.  I never should have left the flea, it’s what he wanted.”

                “What are you going to do?” Kida yelled to be heard over the wind pouring in through the broken window.

                “I dunno kid,” Shizuo admitted as he accelerated around a corner, “But I’m going to find him.”  He slid the car into the illegal parking zone in front of Izaya’s apartment complex minutes later. 

                “Where are we?” Came a weak voice from the back.

                “Shizuo’s kidnapped us,” Kida sighed, “Something’s happened to Izaya and Shinra.” 

                “Are they okay?” Mikado asked as he followed Kida’s prompts to sit up and get out of the car.

                “We don’t know,” Kida admitted as he supported Mikado and followed Shizuo into the building, “We’re trying to figure out where they are now.”

                “I’m going to make a call,” Shizuo as they got into the elevator, “When I do, no one says a word.  You stay silent and you make it seem as if you aren’t here.  Got it?”

                “Uh, yeah,” Mikado answered.

                “Why?” Kida asked.       

                “Because I said so,” Shizuo frowned as they exited the elevator and entered the apartment.  Shizuo did a quick search that came up with a sign of a struggle in the living room and no one left in the house.  He went to Izaya’s computers and searched until he found the number he was looking for.  He carefully punched the numbers into his phone and held the device up to his ear as Kida sat Mikado down on the couch. 

                “Shiki,” Shizuo greeted, “You’re gonna want to hear about this.”  Shizuo gave a warning look to Kida who looked as if he was going to gasp but thought better of it.

                _“Who the fuck is this?”_

“Are you really that useless without Izaya sliding you information?” Shizuo growled, “It’s Shizuo and if you want to keep that information coming, you’re gonna need to do me a favor.”

                _“What makes you think-,”_

                “No see, I’m not Izaya.  I won’t play word games with you,” Shizuo snapped, “You’re going to shut up and listen for a minute.  Some ass named Shirozake has _taken_ Izaya and he will kill him if you don’t help me find his hideout.  Now I don’t think you want to lose your informant and it would be in your best interests to cooperate with me.”

                _“…Very well,” Shiki replied after a moment, “I’ll call this number back in-,”_

                “No, you’ll get your ass to me and we go together when you get that damn address.  I’m not having you skip out.  You’re brining your whole damn gang.  I’m taking this fucker _out_ , there will be no more threats and there will be no more Shirozake after tonight.”

                _“You’re very lucky I value Orihara’s information, otherwise you would be dead.”_

                “Yeah whatever, just get your ass over here,” Shizuo snapped before hanging up the phone.

                “Did you just call the leader of the _Yakuza_ to come _here_?” Kida gasped.

              “Yeah I fuckin’ did,” Shizuo snapped, “He has the resources to find Izaya and he has the men to take out Shirozake.”

                “If I know Shirozake,” Kida started, “he’s going to have a lot more people than he did last time.  I’m sure he’s taken over Taihou’s gang entirely and has them all working for him.  You’re going to need more than just the Yakuza.  They’re impressive but they’ll be out numbered.”

                “What do you suggest?” Shizuo asked.

                “Not suggesting,” Kida said as he texted away on his phone, “Already inviting the Yellow Scarves into this fight.”  

                “…Masaomi…” Mikado mumbled.

                “Don’t worry,” Kida grinned, “I’m going to keep you safe!”

                “That’s not it,” Mikado said as he looked at his phone, “I think it’s time that you know my secret too.”

                “A-Are you sure?”

                “I’m the leader of the Dollars, Masaomi.”   Kida sat with his jaw dropped and his hands limp by his sides.  Shizuo nodded as if he had known the whole time but was remaining silent, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I wasn’t sure how you would react.” Mikado pulled out his phone and sent a quick text.  Shizuo’s phone went off and one of Izaya’s computers made a noise. 

                “You just sent this then?” Shizuo asked as he held up the text message.

                [ _Anyone who is able and willing to fight, get ready and wait for my word.]_

                “Yes,” Mikado answered as he sent another text.

                [ _I need information on a man named Shirozake as well as the knowledge of Orihara Izaya’s whereabouts._ ]  Kida stared unbelievingly at Shizuo and then Mikado.  He closed his mouth and attempted to say something.  He managed a noise of disbelief before running a hand through his hair, distressed.

                “This whole time I’ve been telling you to stay away from the Dollars…” Kida laughed, “And you’ve been leading them.”

                “…Masaomi, I’m sorry-,”

                “No!  This is good,” Kida said, although his eyes shimmered with betrayal, “I don’t have to worry!  We can get our gangs to work together on this!  Maybe some of your members are in with the blue sharks and you can convince them to get them to join too!  We’ll win this.  We’ll get rid of Shirozake and I swear to _god_ Mikado, I’ll protect you.”   Mikado gave a hesitant grin and a small nod.  They would talk later.

                “Okay!”  Then the texts started pouring in.  Mikado barely read the first word of one text before another was popping up on his screen, “I’m using Izaya’s computers,” Mikado stated.  He plopped down on the chair and pulled up the Dollars website.

                “Don’t yell at me if he bites your head off,” Shizuo shrugged as he texted the imposter Izaya that they had reached the boys.  He wanted to make sure that Shirozake had no idea that they were coming.  He eyed Mikado’s hospital get up and decided the teen was going to need different clothing.  He grabbed some of Izaya’s clean clothing from the other room as the teen cleared space on the cluttered desks.  He tossed the clothing to the kid and Mikado merely put them on without asking questions. 

                Mikado logged in and his gang persona slipped out and his face became stern.  Kida stared, entranced by the teen as he became all business and confidence.  It was enthralling, it was attractive, it was intoxicating and Kida wanted to see more of it.  He didn’t realize he was staring until Shizuo gave him a nudge and an eyebrow waggle.  Kida rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything as Mikado smirked.

                “I’ve got 20 people already willing to fight,” He stated and then frowned, “It looks like the Blue Sharks are already in a fight…oh…they’ve joined Shirozake.”

                “That’s fine,” Kida shrugged, “We get to have a rematch.”

                “Do you know where they are?” Shizuo asked.  Mikado pursed his lips together and continued typing and after a moment he shook his head.

                “No but if I know Yakuza, then your guy will be here-,”

                “You didn’t tell me you had company, Shizuo.”  They all turned to see Shiki and three armed men standing in the entry way. 

                “How they hell did you get up here?” Shizuo grunted. 

                “You _did_ ask me to come here,” Shiki sighed, “now come on.  I’ve got an informant to get back.”  Mikado was the first to stand and he looked Shiki firmly in the eyes.

                “Make sure your men know that Blue Sharks and Shirozake’s gang are the enemies,” He demanded without flinching, “ _And_ that Dollars and Yellow Scarves are on your side.” 

                “Oh my and who would you be?”  Shiki grinned, “Such a cute high schooler.  Isn’t it your bed time?”

                “My name is Ryuugamine Mikado.  I run the Dollars and you’ll want to stop treating me like a kid before I get mad,” Mikado said firmly, “Now I believe you have a car for us?”  Shiki grinned and turned to Shizuo and Kida who were both standing with dropped jaws.

                “I like him,” Shiki said with a grin, “let’s go.”   

                They hurried to the car where several other cars were waiting and armed men sat inside.  The silence in the vehicle was oppressive and only broken when Kida pulled out a gun from the waistband of his jeans.  He proceeded to check the weapon, making sure to keep his movements exact and slow so the armed Yakuza didn’t take his actions the wrong way.  As he counted the bullets he had, Mikado reached around and plucked his flick knife from his other pocket.  Kida gave him a close lipped smile and continued his inventory. 

                “How long have you carried that?” Mikado asked after testing the weight of the knife in his hand.

                “Recently?  Not very long,” Kida answered as he put the weapon back together.

                “But before you did?”

                “Everyday,” Kida sighed painfully.

                “Good, you’ll be a decent shot,” Mikado commented, “that’ll be useful.”  Kida nodded in agreement and Shizuo tapped out a message on his phone, his leg jiggling impatiently as he grit his teeth. 

                After minutes of nervous shuffling and steeled glances the cars stopped and Mikado peaked out the window to get a good look at the address.  He sent private messages to those willing to fight with an address and specific instructions to make sure they identified as Dollars and to come armed.  Shiki’s men exited first and only then were the trio allowed to exit the vehicles. 

                Shizuo pushed his way through the men, ignoring their hisses to get behind them.  It was only when Shiki himself stepped into Shizuo’s path that the man stopped.  They held eye contact and Shizuo’s hand balled up in a fist.  Shiki’s eyebrow rose and Shizuo snorted.  After another moment he stepped back and allowed control to fall into Shiki’s hands.  The blonde crossed his arm and glared at the shorter man.

                “If he’s hurt, you can bet your ass I won’t let him do business with you again.”

                “How rude to say to the one who is getting you _to_ him,” Shiki replied coolly.

                “It’s great an all that you two don’t get along but we’ve got bigger problems to worry about,” Kida stated as he shuffled through the muscled men of the Yakuza. 

                “You’re an eager bunch aren’t you,” Shiki sighed.

                “Let’s get started, shall we?” Mikado grinned as he flicked the knife out.   Shiki eyed the knife skeptically but shrugged his shoulders, how was it his problem if a kid wanted to march to his own death?  

                “Let’s,” Shiki agreed before signaling to his men to move in.  The reaction was instantaneous, the gang members sunk into crouches and with guns aimed and at the ready they stormed the area.  Perimeters of old houses were checked first and then they started to break windows, searching for a reaction. 

                “He’s not here,” Mikado said while scanning the tall houses.

                “My source-,” Shiki started.

                “Is only half right,” Mikado interrupted, “the area is probably correct but there’s no way Shirozake would pin himself in a corner like this.  The houses don’t make sense.  He’s taken us to old jails and he’s used wider, more spacious places in the past.  Outdated neighborhoods don’t fit his MO.” 

                “Then where do you suggest we look?”  Shiki asked intrigued at the child’s perception.  Frowning, Mikado took a closer look at his surroundings.  The buildings were tall and thin, going inside them would only put Shirozake into a corner.  He would be easy to trap and the man would understand that.  Men like Shirozake tended to follow old patterns; they liked a scene where they felt in control. 

                “Shizuo-san,” Mikado called, “When Izaya was shot the first time, where was he found?” 

                “Freezing to death on top of some building,” Shizuo answered.  Mikado’s eyes shot upward with Shiki’s, who seemed to be on his line of thinking now.  Yet the roofs were too small to be efficient as well and if he was caught on the rooftops, there was no way for him to get down in time to make an escape. 

                “Unless he doesn’t plan on escaping,” Shiki said making Mikado jump. 

                “He’s going to end things where he started them,” Mikado commented, “On the rooftops, whether or not he dies doesn’t matter…”

                “Only Orihara’s death matters,” Shiki finished, “Good work kid.” 

                “Don’t congratulate me yet,” Mikado mumbled as he shot the text messages to his members, “Masaomi, when are you members-,”

                “Already here baby cakes,” Kida grinned as he noticed lanky members with yellow scarves tied around various sections of their bodies emerging from the shadows. 

                “Keep them on the ground,” Mikado ordered, “Tell them who their allies are but make sure they don’t let anyone escape if they do manage to get away.” 

                “Where do you think you’re going?”

                “To the top,” Mikado answered.

                “Then I’m going with you.  I’ll leave the guys down here but I’m not leaving you.” 

                “Good, sweet, dandy,” Shizuo muttered crossly, “Let’s get the fuck up there.”

                With that Shizuo and Shiki started up for a near building, using the fire escape to climb up, as Kida informed his gang on their instructions.  Mikado waited for the confirmation before he led Kida to a different building, they were close together and would be easy to jump rooftops.  It would be better to have the element of surprise on their hands. 

                Yet when the sound of guns cocking and triggers being pulled filled the air, Mikado knew they had lost any attempt at one upping the opposing forces.  The wind was knocked from his lungs when Kida pulled him down behind one of the cars they had arrived in.  He took a minute to steel himself as they took cover.  He was about to duck around the car when Kida pulled him back down and pressed a finger to his lips.  He pointed at the shadows and Mikado was able to see several yellow scarves moving around.  Hopefully, _they_ had the element of surprise. 

                Kida pushed his head down as the gun fire was returned in full force by the Yellow Scarves.  Mikado pushed Kida’s hand off his head and glanced at the Blue Sharks emerging from the opposite side.  Mikado looked to Kida to suggest they move, when he felt the cold steel of a guns barrel against his throat.  At the same time Kida gasped and brought his gun up, Mikado brought his knife around and sliced the man’s Achilles tendon.  Mikado pushed himself back, against the man, so he wouldn’t get cut as the man fell.  He whipped around and snagged the gun from the man before cracking the butt of it over the man’s forehead, knocking him unconscious. 

                “Let’s go,” Mikado said lowly.  Kida nodded and lowered his gun.  They crouched and used the shadows to move to the side of a building where the fire escape was already lowered and ready for use. 

                “I’ve got your 6 Mikado, go,” Kida hissed when they got to the ladder.  Mikado clenched the knife between his teeth and shoved the gun in the waistband of his pants.  He heard a shot fired midway through his climb and he glanced down, relieved to see Kida standing but sickened do see the dead body a few yards away.  He swallowed down his bile and continued the climb until he was on the roof and lying flat. 

                “Kida!  Come up it’s clear,” Mikado hissed barely raising his voice.  He took out the gun and aimed it behind Kida so he could take care of anyone threatening to hurt the blonde while he climbed.  Kida made faster progress in climbing than Mikado did and he rolled onto the roof. 

                “Locate Izaya first,” Kida whispered, “Unfortunately, he’s a priority.” 

                They scanned the roofs and noticed a large group of people being flung from the roof tops onto the gang members below.  Shizuo was in the middle, tossing person into person into person and off the roof.  It didn’t seem as though Izaya was there.  Mikado noticed the lone figure of Shiki moving across the roofs and when he looked in the direction he saw another mass of people. 

                “Look there,” Kida hissed as he pointed into the opposite direction that Mikado was looking.  Mikado squinted and strained to see in the inky darkness of night.  There was a lump on the rooftop three buildings away, it looked unnatural in the flat roofs surrounding it and Mikado could barely make out the spikes of hair.  He looked around the figure and saw another lump, that one sitting. 

                “Jumping roofs is going to make a lot of noise,” Mikado said quietly.

                “Going back to the kill zone isn’t exactly a good idea,” Kida replied as he looked below them to see several bodies already covering the ground.  Police forces were going to have a hard week when they realized what happened so far away from the city. 

                “Yeah,” Mikado agreed, “Jumping roof tops it is.” 

                They stood into a crouch and moved to the back part of the roof.  They took a running start and pushed off at the last inch of roof.  The landing was jarring and forced them both into a roll that had them nearly falling off the rooftop and to their death.  Luckily, they were stopped a few inches from the edge by lack of momentum.

                “Ow,” Kida hissed, “That _looks_ a lot easier than it really is.” 

                “Two more to go,” Mikado groaned as they crawled to the other side of the roof, “he’ll probably notice us this time so be careful standing up.” 

                “Right,” Kida agreed.  They carefully rose and jumped roof tops again the noise of their landing muffled by the sound of gun shots.  As they peaked up at the next roof neither figure had changed position. 

                “The gun shots must be covering us,” Mikado said, “or he knows we are here and he’s going to let us think we are getting away with it.” 

                “Right, be careful,” Kida said with a quick squeeze to Mikado’s arm.  The boy nodded and they took charge, weapons drawn and ready.  Mikado rolled to a stop, knife carefully aimed away from him, and he crouched over the body on the ground.

                “Masaomi! Get him!”  Mikado yelled referring to the one that was sitting.  Kida turned his weapon on the figure and stopped; a horrified gasp escaped from his body.  At the same time Kida whirled around to face Mikado again, there was a sharp pain in the black haired teen’s leg.  A yelp escaped Mikado’s lips and he looked down to see Shirozake grinning at him.  The knife was twisted in his thigh and Mikado grit his teeth and stabbed his own knife in Shirozake’s shoulder. 

                Mikado screamed and twisted the knife in further to Shirozake’s shoulder pushing it until the hilt was sinking into flesh.  The man’s grip on his own knife faltered but remained so Mikado brought his fist down on the knife shoving it in further and forcing the man to release his grip on the knife in Mikado’s thigh.  The teen rolled away and scooted back towards Kida who had his gun trained on Shirozake. 

                “Where’s Izaya?”  Kida demanded as he kneeled to be next to Mikado who was trying to breathe through the pain.  The black haired teen looked behind him to see not Izaya, but Shinra tied to the chair and seemingly unconscious. 

                “Wh-what are you going to do? Ki-kill me?”  Shirozake panted.

                “It’s certainly tempting,” Kida growled as he glanced at Mikado’s wound.  He winced as there was a _lot_ of blood and the knife was pressed down to the hilt.  He wouldn’t be able to walk or jump roofs anymore.

 

Kida cocked the gun.

 

                “Masaomi,” Mikado gritted through his teeth, “ _don’t_.”  Masaomi glanced down at the teen, who had broken out into a cold sweat.  Rage swelled in his chest and he readjusted the gun.

                “ _Where_ is he?  Tell me _now_ before I make you _regret_ bringing us into this.” 

                “Oh my,” Shirozake gasped as his body quivered with pain, “you _almost_ sound serious.”  Kida pulled the trigger and watched the bullet rip through the man’s leg, a location similar to Mikado’s injury.  Kida pulled Mikado to be leaning against the chair Shinra was propped in before pulling off his jacket and placing it over Mikado’s chest.  He stood and turned to Shirozake who was gritting his teeth to prevent sound from escaping, he too had broken into a cold sweat. 

                “I’m _dead_ serious.”  Kida stepped on the bullet wound, hard.  A scream tore from Shirozake’s throat, “I’d start talking if I were you.” 

                “Ma-Masaomi!”  Mikado gasped.

                “Sorry you have to-,”

                “Not _that!_ ” Mikado grit.  He pulled his gun out and aimed with shaking hands and shot.  His bullet missed its original mark, the forehead of the ominous shadow that had rose up behind Masaomi, but sunk deep into a shoulder instead.  Mikado took a breath and shot again this time hitting the abdomen of who he assumed to be Taihou. 

The kickback of the weapon sent him back into the chair which slide and began to tilt off the building.  Mikado gasped and flipped around to grab the legs of the chair as it fell from the roof.  The pain that shot through his leg went straight up his throat and exited as a scream.  He was sliding across the rooftop, the knife digging and cutting into his thigh, as his weight was not sufficient to keep Shinra’s and the chair floating in the air.  The ropes were the only thing holding the unconscious doctor from slipping out and falling to his death and Mikado the only thing keeping the chair from falling from the building; and his grip was slipping   

                “ _MIKADO_!”  He had to focus; he couldn’t let Kida’s distress distract him from keeping a grip on the chair.  If he let go then Shinra was gone and he couldn’t let that happen.  He had to focus.  There was pressure around his chest and arms and a tugging sensation.  It wasn’t enough. 

                “GODDAMN IT!”  Kida screamed, “ _Shizuo_!  Damn it!  I need help!”  Mikado gasped through the pain as the knife cut through his muscle and his vision waivered as the pain took over.  He couldn’t pass out, he couldn’t let go. 

                “The- Chair,” Mikado gasped out.  If Kida could pull the chair and Shinra up, then he wouldn’t have to worry.  The hands moved away from him and he saw tan hands gripping the chair.

                “Pull!”  Kida grunted and Mikado offered his meager strength to assist in pulling the doctor to safety.  Just as they succeeded in pulling the chair up to be back on the roof there was a clicking sound behind them.  Without thinking Mikado pulled Kida down and covered him screaming as his leg and now his shoulder pulsed in agony.  There was movement underneath him and the sound of two gunshots going off sounded.  He managed to get a look through his wavering vision at the dead body belonging to Taihou, his biological father.  As his vision went black he thought he heard the neigh of a horse. 

                “Shit, shit, fuck, shit,” Kida cursed as Mikado stopped moving.  He wormed his way out and after making sure that Shirozake was still incapacitated because he wasn’t going to take another loony getting up and trying to shoot him, he turned to Shinra and shook the man, hard, “Wake up, please _fuck_ wake up.”  He brought his hand back and smacked the doctor three times before the man’s voice finally got through his panic.

                “Hey _, HEY_ that is _not_ how you wake someone up!” Shinra yelled while trying to move his face away from Kida’s abusive hand. 

                “Oh thank _god_ , Please Mikado! He’s…I don’t know what to do!” 

                “Well untie me,” Shinra started while trying to move his limbs, “I don’t guarantee I’m the best one to look him over as I’ve been drugged but it looks like…are we on a roof?” 

                “Yeah,” Kida sniffed, emotion clogging his throat, “It’s a long story.” 

                “Wait, shush,” Shinra said.  Kida fell silent and a few seconds later they heard the neigh of a horse, “oh good, Celty’s here.”   He rubbed his wrists trying to get feeling in them as he stood from the ground and wobbled on unsteady feet.  Kida offered a shaking limb for him to steady himself with and Shinra took it.  Kida left Shinra by Mikado’s side as he grabbed his gun and dragged himself over to Shirozake. 

                “One more time,” Kida said, his eyes and tone dead, “where. The fuck. Is Izaya?” 

Shirozake began to laugh. 

                “Tick tock tick tock time is running out for your informant friend!”  Kida drew his foot back and kicked the man.

                “ _Where_?!” 

                “Downstairs,” Shirozake laughed, “Do you think you can save him in time?”  Kida merely stomped on the man’s bullet wound again earning a pained whimper. 

                “If you’re lying I’ll fucking torture you,” He turned to Shinra who was too absorbed in trying to use _something_ remotely sanitary to stanch Mikado’s bleeding, “I’m going downstairs, use Mikado’s gun if this fuck tries anything.”  He hopped onto the ladder without waiting for a reply and slid down with blood slick hands, until he had to slow his decent to land on the ground. 

                Kida swallowed hard at the battleground.  The ground was heavy with blood and it was no longer mixing in with dirt or being absorbed due to the sheer amount of liquid.  He had to step through several puddles in order to get around the house.  He peaked out with his gun out and ready.  The grounds were strangely quiet and when he squinted into the distance he saw why.  Celty’s presence had a significant impact on the fighting and with her scythe a great deal of gang members had been taken out. 

                Being cautious, he snuck around the building and forced the rusty hinges on the door to open.  His stomach dropped when he saw that Shirozake hadn’t been lying about Izaya’s location _or_ a limit on time.  They had three minutes left before the bomb strapped to the informant’s chest went off.          

                “Oh good, help,” Izaya commented dryly, “perhaps you could untie me and if you know how to defuse a bomb, that would be greatly appreciated.”  Kida rushed to the man and fumbled with the knots around his wrists.

                “A fucking _bomb_ where the hell did he even get a fucking _bomb_?”  Kida cursed. 

                “I heard a lot of guns, what’s going on out there?” 

                “A fucking gang war, all for your sorry ass that’s what,” Kida bite out as the ropes fell away from his wrists.

                “Aw you do care,” Izaya grinned as he rubbed his wrists.

                “There is a _bomb_ strapped to your fucking CHEST!  COULD YOU TAKE THIS MORE SERIOUSLY?  People are _dying_ out there!”  Kida yelled.  Izaya’s face darkened and he towered over Kida.

                “I’m aware that there is a device set to blow me up chained around my chest thank you.  I didn’t ask anyone to come die for me so you can stop this pity party before it starts.”  Kida punched the man in the jaw with an outraged cry, “Am I _really_ the one you want to be focusing on right now?” 

                “Apparently so,” Kida grit, “Since you’ve got a fucking _bomb_ on your chest.”  The blonde grabbed the man’s wrist and marched him out to the street.

                “Oh _smart_ march us out to the line of fire, brilliant.  Tell me what do you think is going to happen with this-,”

                “BOMB!  WE’VE GOT A LIVE BOMB, CEASE FIRE!”  Kida bellowed.  The shots that were ringing out stopped as echo’s of live bomb moved through the neighborhood and Kida turned to Izaya, “no one wants to be blown up.  They’d rather fix this and then resume shooting each other.” 

                “Interesting,” Izaya grinned as he eyed the scene.

                “Not the fucking time.”  Kida snapped as he glanced upward towards the roof where Mikado was.  They walked to the group of gang members now at a voluntary cease fire and he addressed the group as Shizuo pushed his way through to get to Izaya.

                “Does anyone know how to defuse a bomb?”  Kida yelled.  There were many heads shaking and one person stepped forward.

                “Maybe.”

                “Oh great!”  Izaya said sarcastically as Shizuo eyed the chains wrapping around his chest and shoulders.  They lay on top of a vest which was padlocked on the side keeping everything held in place.  The bomb would have to be defused first then the chains then the vest.

                “I can take a look,” the same person said as they brought out a flashlight.  Several seconds passed before they reached out a tentative hand to touch.  Several people backed away and Shizuo continued to eye the chains. 

                “Well?” Izaya asked as the timer on the bomb ticked down to a minute and a half. 

                “I-I don’t recognize anything from this…” 

                “Well I guess that leaves one option,” Shizuo said gruffly.

                “Put him in a building and get as far away as possible,” Someone muttered.  Shizuo grabbed them by the shirt and threw them.  Kida ran a hand down his face and was about to ask what next when Shizuo turned to Celty, “can you make me a pair of gloves again?”  She cocked her head to the side but did as she was asked and produced the gloves which Shizuo pulled on. 

                “Shizu-chan you-,”

                “Shut up and let me save you, flea,” Shizuo grunted, “This will probably hurt a bit.  Does anyone have a knife?” 

                “Seriously?  You’re seriously asking them?”  Izaya sighed.  He pulled his flick knife out and handed it to Shizuo, “I swear to fuck Shizu-chan, if you cut the wrong wire-,”

                “Not cutting any wires.”  Shizuo snagged the flashlight from the previous gang member and gave it to Kida, “Hold that.”  Kida kept the light steady as Shizuo cut down the side of the vest that didn’t have the padlock. 

                “Shizuo…the timer,” Kida warned, 54 seconds left.  Shizuo put the knife in his mouth and grasped both sides of the tear before pulling and ripping the vest. 

                “Careful!” The man who tried looking at the bomb yelled, “if you cause too much vibration in the bomb it could cause it to detonate!”  More people left the area.  Shizuo merely ripped it to the end. 

                “Hold this,” He said to the man.  The man gulped but did as he was told and held the fabric in place.  Shizuo moved to Izaya’s other side and Kida shined the light on the pad lock.

25 seconds.

                With gloved hands, Shizuo gripped the lock and yanked on it, hard.  Izaya gasped in pain and the gang member whimpered as he eyed the bomb.  Two more firm yanks had the lock popping off and with 15 seconds on the timer, Shizuo was cutting the other side.  He put the knife in his mouth at 10 seconds and ripped the jacket in half in 5. 

He pulled the vest over Izaya’s head, the chains getting caught in the informant’s hair, which Shizuo cut.  He spun and launched the vest into the air before forcing both Izaya and Kida down.   Celty covered the other gang member as the bomb ignited and bits of debris rained on them.  

                “No defusing needed,” Shizuo said smugly before noticing that Kida was alone, “Where’s the kid?”  He asked while batting away a piece of debris from his shoulder.  Shaking, Kida stood and pointed towards the building.

                “With Shinra, he’s hurt bad,” Kida said. 

                “Well let’s go see how the Dollar’s leader is fairing shall we?”  They turned to see Shiki emerging with one armed guard with him. 

                “You just like to skip all the dangerous bits, don’t you Shiki-san,” Izaya grinned, “Why are you even here?”

                “You’ll want to talk to your boyfriend about that,” Shiki winked as he and Celty followed Kida who was already heading back to Mikado’s side.  Shizuo pulled Izaya in for a quick hug before kissing him roughly and apologizing.

                “Apologize later Shizu-chan, seems there is still unfinished business.”

                “Are you okay?”  Shizuo asked as they followed the group.

                “Of course I am.  This is all so interesting, don’t you think?”  Izaya grinned, “Humans are so _fun_.” Shizuo didn’t comment, but he did grip Izaya’s shaking hand a little tighter.

                On the roof top, Shinra had managed to blotch most of Mikado’s bleeding but he couldn’t get the teen to wake up, or Shirozake to stop laughing.  He resisted the urge to rub his aching head, and he _really_ shouldn’t have been doing anything medically related until he _knew_ he was going to be okay from the side effects of the whatever drug they had used, but he was the only one there that had training.  When Celty and the rest of their group arrived to the roof top he nearly cried out in joy.

                “Celty! Come here!”  He beckoned, “we can let them do whatever they want here, but we need to get him to a hospital.” 

                “Oh we won’t take long,” Shiki said as he pulled out a pistol, “Oh my it looks like someone did a _good_ number on you.”  Shiki laughed as he too stepped on the bullet wound Kida had caused.  The half conscious man had stopped laughing and for the first time, fear crossed over his expression.

                “Shi-Shiki…” Shirozake stuttered.

                “We’ve had quite a difficult time tracking you down,” Shiki laughed, “on top of leaving Yakuza you try to take _my_ informant?  There are consequences to trying to take something so valuable from me.”  Shiki growled, his features contorting and looking more like a gang leader than ever.

                “Aww, Shiki does care,” Izaya grinned. 

                “Burn in hell,” Shiki growled before pulling the trigger on the man who had begun to beg for his life.  The bullet traveled through the man’s eye and into his brain.  A short scream, then silence and then it was over.  The plague of Shirozake’s reign in their lives was done. 

                “That was anti-climatic,” Shinra said as he hefted Mikado’s body up with Celty’s help.

                “Speak for yourself,” Kida grumbled as he moved to help. 

                “I am,” Shinra grinned.  With a sigh and trembling limbs they left the battle scene, assured that Shiki’s men would take care of it _before_ a police investigation occurred.  The recovery would be long but it would be achievable. 

Even if it meant going through another year of schooling for the two boys. 


End file.
